# using ladybugs



## ronnd (Dec 17, 2010)

Hi all beeks this may be a little far out there but does anybody think that it would be effective to use ladybugs around hive with help on reducing mite levels since ladybugs eat mites (not sure about the rite kind of mites) let me know your thoughts on this.


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

Ladybugs do eat spider mites but they have a soft body, like the aphids that they help control in the garden. Varroa doesn't have the same soft shell that their favorite foods have. 

I don't know how effective they could be in that they would only really have access to the occasional mite that might fall through a screened bottom board. I don't imagine they would be welcomed into the brood chamber where the bulk of the mites are, no matter how good their intentions are.

Hwwever, it's that kind of biological control thinking that could save our collective butts.

Wayne


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## Nectarcollector (Jan 31, 2010)

I have wondered the same. I wondered if you could intoduce the ladybugs into the hive.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I bought 20K lady bugs one year with the hopes of helping with Aphids but, after a few days I could not even find a lady bug in the yard. I don't think they would work for Varroa mites the mites are on the bees or in the hive. The bees wouldn't let the lady bugs in the hive or on their back either. 

It was funny when they came in the mail I was at work and talked my wife into letting them go. She said when she opened the bag they came crawling out all at once. She said they ended up in places they shouldn't have been. My wife is a trooper!


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## John C (Sep 19, 2010)

johng said:


> I bought 20K lady bugs one year with the hopes of helping with Aphids but, after a few days I could not even find a lady bug in the yard.


try spraying some water around the releasing area (preferably your garden) and do it in the evening. This helps them to stay put


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