beneficial

stepping away from the beetles for a bit and looking in on the leaf cutter bees...they are definitely out in the yard and while they are known to pollinate both vegetable and wild plants i keep finding them ( ironically enough? ) out in the sunny alfalfa patch i planted as a green manure but which is serving now a triple purpose as a nitrogen setting legume, a source of local seed, and a bee habitat...i have no real census of their number...i put out one hundred and change to hatch at the end of may but probably will never know how many there are...the hope is to find cocoons in the bee house before the season is over...now that i am on a little firmer ground with their habits and know they will survive here i will be changing the placement of the bee houses and will be improvising a few other nesting environments to see if i can expand a colony...there is always the option to import more next year..which is likely and hack back parts of the jungle this autumn to establish a bit more alfalfa...like everything else in nature insects fall across a harmful/beneficial dichotomy...with a bit more thought as to intercropping and plant dispersal along with the nurturing of "weeds" that provide habitat for insects that find pests like japanese beetles to be good eating ( and with the already burgeoning bird population in the yard ) i may be able to defeat infestations before they happen...i will certainly be trying.