Hello, and thanks for joining us for another episode of Mid American gardener.

I'm your host Tinisha, Spain.

And joining me in the studio today with lots of goodies are two of our panelists that you definitely recognize we've got Jim and Kay in the house.

But before we jump into all the cool stuff that they brought, let's have them introduce themselves and tell you a little bit more about their specialty.

So Jim, we'll start with you.

Well, I'm an entomologist, or retired entomologist with the Illinois Natural History surveys so I deal with the insects and mites and other thing critters attacking trees, shrubs, and flowers, all the creepy crawlies.

Okay, all right, okay.

I'm Kay Carnes.

And I had Champaign County Master Gardener.

I primarily do deal with herbs and flowers.

And I'm also a volunteer at Allerton Park.

And Kay grows a lot of heirlooms as well.

She's our resident heirloom expert.

Okay, so let's jump in.

The insects are here, and they are afoot about a flight, whatever.

Yeah, let's talk about um, what did you?

Well, we nothing live today, I brought in some wasp nest.

You know, lately, I've been going to the internet and watching the internet and I see so many programs on how to get rid of wasps.

And I think, why are they trying to get rid of wasps when we're trying to promote biological control?

Because adult wasps really are beneficial insects.

They control a lot of our caterpillars that destroy our crops like the cabbage looper and the cabbage, butterfly wheat butterfly larva that feeds on cabbage, wasp attack those kinds of creatures.

And so there really are beneficial insects, why should we try to get rid of now in certain cases, and I'll talk about that, we do need to get rid of them because they are you know, they you'll get stung if you let them around.

But one of the most common in the Midwest is the paper wasp.

And it makes these kind of nests.

Generally under the eaves of houses or you know, any kind of place like that.

It's generally on a horizontal situation that they are playing by I did have one one of these nests right on my front door, which is vertical, which is pretty unusual, most looses, it's on a horizontal like that.

But you know, this is one that probably if you're going to be painting your home, you do need a kilise because if you get near the nest, they will sting you if you're painting, and they got a lot of things now and then stores that you can actually spray and spray goes out maybe about 10 feet, you need every bit of you need every bit of that.

So that's a way to get rid of these if it's a problem if you're painting and interesting that it's true with Wasp it's the queen or the female that overwinters so in the fall once we get killing frost and they all all the workers die except the Queen she'll we're winners.

And then the following spring, she'll start a nest now, this here is just how it starts.

It's just a little teeny nest that they start out with and they queen lays eggs in there.

And then when they hatch, she feeds them chewed up caterpillars.

And then you know as the population continues to grow, and workers are produced, then they take over the nest and so then you can have a whole bunch of workers and they feed the young these nests are really for raising the young they don't store honey or pollen like like bees do.

So it's interesting.

This is one of those moments where the education is so important because like you said they are beneficial insects.

We've sort of been conditioned to run in screen that's what I will talk after Kay here about some that are pretty nasty.

And that's the Yellowjackets.

The other one is the other one here's the bald faced Hornet and I brought this nest in because I thought you'd be interested to see that you know when you look at this is actually paper, the Wasp belong before we humans vein paper, the Wasp, we're doing that long time beforehand.

And inside you can see this is where they again, have this nest just like I showed you here you can see what it looks like inside.

And these are for eggs.

Yes, yes.

They'll put all eggs in there and then they'll raise their young in those chambers.

So and they can build a Big Papi lations in the fall months, and then once it gets cold and below freezing temperatures, all the workers die.

It's only the queen that survives.

And she doesn't spend her time in there, she'll fly out and hide under, you know, maybe under some type of shingle or some maybe, you know, hollow tree, that's where she'll spend the winter.

And then the following spring, and she's made it then.

And then she'll survive the winter and then start the colony again.

But, you know, when you see these nests, just leave them alone.

If they're not cause they really won't come up and stinging unless you poke the nest.

I mean, they will definitely come up, then you got to deal with you know, if they're, if you're not concerned, I wouldn't be concerned about in fact, I'd be happy if I had these things.

You know, I don't know about happy to.

But that's definitely fascinating, though.

And so you may not know this, it might not even be a real question.

But how many can live in here?

How many boldface?

Oh gosh, hundreds, I'm sure.

Hundreds, hundreds.

Yeah.

When that's when it's high population?

That's hundreds.

Wow.

Fascinating.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Okay, we're going to you know, okay, well, I bought one of my very favorite flowers.

And this is called a pink Peony Poppy.

And I love them because they come up on their own.

They recede but they're not invasive.

So you have one here and one there.

And they seem to kind of come up in the same spot every year.

It is a real Poppy.

You can see this is the seed head.

It's not ready to open yet.

It's really young.

But it is a poppy.

Now what is a true Poppy versus?

Well, this is true, Poppy.

It was the difference?

I guess.

I would think that the seed had wood.

Okay.

And perhaps the leaves might be a little bit.

Gotcha.

Those are absolutely gorgeous.

I have some at my house to mine are more of a salmon color.

And I love those pods because as soon as it's done flowering, I make sure I snap those off and store them because I just really love the way they look.

They just absolutely.

It is gorgeous.

And when it's young and coming out there's a little green.

How long will bloom last?

Several weeks I thought unless you get a lot of wind they're kind of delicate.

I don't know.

Well we get a lot of wind and and they have stood up once they start maturing worth flowers.

I had one that flowers petals were dropping.

Okay, so a more mature plant where all the petals longer.

Yeah, really, really pretty.

Well.

Do you have any other color variations are out there?

It's the painting.

Yeah, just think very cool.

I don't know if there's, you know, other colorations that you can get.

But this is this is the pink.

Now how do you store when you pop off the seed pods?

What do you do with yours to let them dry?

Where do you put them?

Well, I'll just put them in a tray.

Or you know pie pan.

I use pie pans a lot going in a little seeds, and just let them go till they're dry and then put them in some kind of container.

And then last question, do you plant them in the fall?

Or do you save them until the spring?

I don't plant them?

They just come up?

Okay, they received they received themselves I'd say is that the seeds that you save in the pods?

Do you do you bring any of those in now I don't just let them do their own?

Yeah, because you know, I have enough that they're here and there.

But she wanted to put them in it.

So can you purchase these seeds on the market somewhere?

I don't know.

I've never looked to remember where I got I think I got mine as a gift.

Mine were a gift.

I got the actual plants and I just put them in the bed.

And that kind of got them established a few years ago, but they don't they don't spread too much.

They're not you know, invasive, they're very well behaved.

They are and just a pretty look at and they get really tall.

Mine are very tall.

So you think they do read them?

They haven't?

Well, they haven't.

an RVer but not yet.

Anyway, right?

Oh, one reason I think mine are safe is because they're tall.

I'm sorry for the rabbits we were talking about rabbits earlier.

I think the rabbits have Spirit in them because they're up so high that they can't get them but I don't know about deer.

I don't know we don't have we have deer around us and we see them on the edges of our property but they don't seem that come in and they were lucky because they're eating Jim Gordon out of out of business.

The lettuce was mowed down to the Crown about a week ago So, okay, all right, Jim, we are back to you with more things that can one last species that in the Midwest is really quite troublesome.

And that's the Yellowjacket.

They build their nest in the ground.

And they, the female, again, like the other was she overwinters.

And then she finds the whole a whole, like a chipmunk might make or a bowl mix in the ground, and then the show, start the colony underground.

And they're very small little Wasp, you know, this is one here, you can see how small they are.

But they're very numerous.

And these underground nest, and they're the ones that come to picnics, if you have a picnic outside, they like to join, oh, they like to join.

We had a picnic quite several years ago for graduate students, and one graduate student brought in some donuts.

And he left the package open Well, worse just came in droves.

And, you know, so we have a picnic, you got to cover all your food, because if you don't, and if that one was finds it, he'll go back to the nest and say, Hey, I know we're ready to go.

Wow.

So So you, you don't want to have one, one get a meal because they won't show the buddies to come back.

They're gonna go tell everybody that can be a really a problem.

Do they sting?

Oh, do they stink.

And that leads into this little comment that at that picnic, you know, like these wasps, these yellow jackets like to go to sugary particulars.

So we had a, this one student had a pop, can, oh boy and open pop can and the wife got in there.

And he took the drain, and he got stung on the lip.

And that's painful, very, very painful.

So you know, you gotta be careful about these yellow jackets.

And that's one was that if you kept me in your yard, you almost have to kill them because they will actually come out in stinky white man.

And you know, they're very abundant sometimes.

So to get rid of those kinds of things, you can go again, seven, the insecticide seven sec, v i n, is very toxic to bees and wasps.

So you can spray that or you can go and get a hornet or Wasp spray.

And they had plenty of those do that early in the morning, before the combs coming out in the spray around that and I think that would control them.

But that's one that has, you know, it's a good biological agent.

But my dad stepped on a nest a few years ago, and he ended up having me spines.

I wouldn't say that.

But he ended up having to go to the emergency room because he was stung multiple times.

They were in his clothes.

And he swole up.

I mean, he really swell up and was uncomfortable.

So he said that was the worst thing he'd ever felt.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

And, you know, I was gonna say, how do you tell the difference between those and honey bees because they look maybe a little similar?

Well, they do look a little bit similar, but their habits are completely different.

You know, these are in the ground.

So if you see them in the ground, and the fabric is safe, if you have a picnic or outside eating, they'll come to that Gotcha.

You know that the bears will generally do that behaviors do they behave much better they look a little series one Wasp, the cicada killer that also makes nest in the ground.

But I'll tell you that's a gentle giant as a cat.

As a wasp.

I mean, that the only was I know, instance where it was stung a person that my fellow entomologist Dr. Phil Nixon said that he knew somebody had stepped on one in their bare foot, you know, so, but the other I've had, I've had my hands right a side of them, their nest in the ground.

And it's it's only one nest in the ground, totally the female only one so, but they're great big wasp.

I mean, they're huge.

And they're gentle giants.

So we really should not try to kill us.

I mean, they're really beneficial and they you know, they feed on cicadas.

So nice.

We got to get to know our wasps.

And next time we come back to Jim, he's going to talk to us about how to keep them away or keep insects away from us while we're working out in the yard.

So okay, you brought in another flower.

All right, I did.

This is butterfly weed.

And it's one again, though another favorite of mine.

They get their individual plants but they grow together so they almost look like a bush.

And they.

The ones I have are probably this big in diameter.

But they're not invasive.

They don't spread a lot.

And they're very hardy.

And the monarch butterflies, like them there.

Pretty much.

Yes.

So I have two, I have one in my prairie garden.

And I have another one and another spot in my yard.

But they just, it's actually a milkweed.

But it's different than the milkweed.

You think about it.

It's not as invasive is the regular.

And part of that is because their root system is different.

The invasive and milkweed that actual milkweed has roots that connect with each other.

So it's like a net.

The butterfly, we just each one has its own root system, and they don't spread like legs.

Gotcha.

So they're well behaved and they're beautiful.

Yeah.

The whole bushes.

And I see they're blooming.

Do they bloom all summer?

Where you've been for quite a while?

Yes, they do.

My plants have been blooming.

Have you seen any monarch?

Butterfly larvae?

Not?

Yeah.

I mean, are there years?

Have you seen them?

Peter?

Yes.

Yes.

And we've I think we had one out at Allerton.

And because I'm really concerned about the lack of insects anymore.

I mean, it's just incredible.

The number of species i don't see anymore.

I mean, just incredible.

What's going on?

I hear that about the monarchs, but I was across the entire spell and bees.

We talked about bees, their numbers dropping by?

Do you think that's things that we're using?

And I know there's a lot of I think it's something in the air.

But yeah, I think so many people just the first thing they do when they see a bug is grabbed the spray.

I mean, it's it's very serious.

I mean, this is really serious.

There's so many insects that I don't see anymore.

interest on history really serious.

Interesting, and I know how much that we our food supply, and everything sort of depends on that.

So hopefully we can get some answers to that son.

Yes.

Well, so while you're out working in the yard, if you've noticed gnats, well, they're not gnats.

And Jim's gonna tell us the scientific name.

But you know, when you're swatting, or you're those little flying insects are flying around your dog's eyes or face, right, we're going to talk about those and Jim's got a hack, if you will, to keep those away from you.

While you're outside working.

If you have an outside dog or dog that goes outside, they always get around there all the time.

And they do that with humans too.

And I'm down there working on my hands.

And these, these little flies are called foreign flies p h o R id for advice.

They look like little almost like fruit flies.

But they're smaller than fruit flies, but they're just such a new car, a new scent, just a nuisance.

So and I noticed when I'm sweating, they come around even more.

That's the thing.

I think that's just my that's true.

So do they bite or sting?

No, they just aggravate.

Anyway, Dr. Bob Novak, the late Dr. Bob Novak was in our department.

And he said, Jim, all you got to do is go get a dryer cloth, like the suit you put in the dryer, put that on your hat, so that you may be the you know, if you got this under your hat, so maybe extends about that far, and it will keep those forehead flies away in his work.

Perfectly.

Interesting.

Yeah.

It makes me wonder if I just maybe take one of those and rub it over the dog.

I'll provide it might it might try that.

All right.

Hey, you never know what what might work.

And we can report on that when you do that.

Right?

What's that called?

Something science where we're, we're out in the community, you know, just lay people doing science experiments.

So I bet a lot of people are going to be trying that because the insects are horrible.

And does that have anything to do with how dry it is?

Does insect population is it affected by rainfall?

Oh, yes.

Yeah.

I mean, if you get a lot of lots of moisture, yeah.

Insects are very vulnerable to some of these fungi.

And even bacterial infections are more prominent when you get a lot of moisture.

But so are they thriving now?

Since it's dry?

Or no, insects are not you know, a lot of them are not thriving.

So Gotcha.

We all really need rain in my area.

I mean, it's just very, very, very serious.

I don't see a lot of insects, you know, either.

No, something else is going on.

I'm sure I mean, and that started about about 10 years ago.

And there's so many moths and you know one time remember when you we used to go out driving at night.

Oh my gosh.

Hitting the wind your way You don't have to do that anymore.

Yeah, you know what?

You're right.

You're right.

And also I leave it out in the country and they be a large number of moss at the window at night.

You know, it's the lights on the inside.

You just don't see that.

Interesting.

So yeah, we're in bad shape.

I don't know.

Finance has to come through for that one.

We've got a question.

For Kay, this is from Martha Williams.

She wants to know if there is a certain way to water tomato plants, both in pots in in the ground for success.

And so you're the tomato lady.

Tell us your ways.

Well, for the for the ad ground I use a soaker hose.

Okay.

It's a very it's a lot regular hose, but it has lots of tiny holes and I hook it up to my regular hose and just let that go till the ground.

And it's nice because you can get it in a specific area.

So that that's my recommendation for and how do you test whether it needs to be watered or not?

Right now you could out the window right now right?

Everything Everything needs to I've been spending so much time watery.

Yeah, yeah.

And you know, it's I'll look out the window and one of my plants will be looking kind of sad.

And then I'll rush out there real quick and get some water on that one.

Then you go to a different part of the yard and something else is looking sad and it's you're just putting out fires all day long.

Trying to keep everybody cool.

What about pots?

If you're growing tomatoes in containers, do they like to dry all the way out?

Do they like to be moist you have to be careful you don't want to overwater and that's the worst thing you can do.

It's better to let them dry out.

And you know if you see them a little bit droopy then what the soil really well.

I I just stick my finger down in the pot as far as I can.

You know and and if it's it's dry, all the way down.

I'll give it some water but not a lot of water at a time.

I took your advice and I got soaker hoses.

Last year was the first year that I use them and I didn't have near as much wilted foliage or fungus or you know when you don't have all that moisture kind of on the leaves from top watering.

It makes a huge difference in the health of the stems and the leaves.

So that's that's a really plus for soaker hoses because it puts the water where it needed.

Not all over the band.

I want to ask you what you think about this.

I put the hose I put the plants in, put the hose in, and then I put the mulch on top of that.

What are your thoughts on that?

Yeah, okay.

You just gotta kind of pull them all back sometimes to see what how dry just to make sure.

Okay, but so far, so good.

So Okay, Jim, do you have one more thing you want to display?

Do you know sometimes Berger will hit the Windows?

Yes, particularly in the fall.

But I do I put this netting it's called bird netting.

Overall, my wind is big.

Have a bay window, several yellow panes.

Put that on and I don't have any more bird hits on that.

So interesting on you can see through that.

I mean, if you get one that's you know, like this.

It's very, I don't mind looking through that in the wind.

So it really works.

And you can just take that underneath the eaves or your home and hang it down and it really prevents bird hits.

Interesting.

Some birds, okay.

My mother in law was having that problem this spring.

And she put a plate that had a picture of a bears face on it like Winnie the Pooh.

She just stood it in the window and the bird never came back again.

Yes.

So do they do that?

Is that their reflection?

Is that the old wives tale or is that true?

Is that why they run into the window?

Oh, I think it's you know, I think that the book like it.

Well, I think the reflection sometimes Yeah, looks like the sky.

Oh, crash right, in particular in the fall months, you know, Cardinals and downy woodpeckers.

My husband had a cardinal kept packing it but chrome parts on his truck which didn't pack did that thing.

Oh my gosh, it kept jumping.

Same with an indigo bunting.

Oh so pretty.

They're so pretty.

But that's it.

They're the garage window.

Bang, bang bang all the time.

You get tired?

No.

It was a data card.

So Robin Robin.

Is there all day?

Yeah.

I think it's, you know, behavior that they think it's another male and I noticed that there was a female rather than not too far from Oh yeah, he does.

That's too funny.

One quick last one, we've got about a minute or so left.

Someone's asking about what to do about slugs on hostas.

You guys have any tips for that one that is from Sue Deatherage.

She said this thing ever sea slugs on my house, I don't either, but I've heard people raise.

One party said that you use beer.

Put little, put little cups of beer out.

Okay, now you got to if you've got a raccoon problem and you're gonna have intoxicated or a bunch of drunken raccoon party.

Apparently that does work.

I mean, they they go into that to feed on it and then they drowned in the beer.

Okay, what a way to go.

What a way to go.

Pirates life.

Okay, we are out of time.

That was so much fun.

Thank you guys so much for coming in and bringing in all of your show and tales and sharing your knowledge.

And thank you so much for watching.

You've got some assignments, get some dryer sheets, get a couple of beers.

We've got you covered here on the insects.

So thanks for joining us and we will see you next time.

Good night.