Who Is This Man And Why Is He Smiling?

Okay, let's get the hat thing out of the way at the start.  Yes, that's me wearing my 'blazing-sun-hat' ... our regular baseball-style caps just don't keep my ears and neck from getting seared in the summer sun, so after several years of thinking about doing something about it, I finally got a "real" hat.  Alayne says it makes me look like an Amish farmer, so for those of you who remember my babushka posts about Miss Marker and her head-gear, this is your -- and her -- chance to get even.  Amish-man.

Alright then.  Moving on to the subject of this post....

I will admit to getting excited about a couple of odd things that few others share my zeal for.  One is working our big compost piles and turning a mass of horse manure, stall bedding and hay into rich, dark loamy stuff that looks like Iowa topsoil.  The other "oh-my-gosh-how-exciting-is-this" moment is when our regular shipment of 'fly predators' arrives. 

Horse people who visit us have commented in the past about how few flies we have.  Generally, having large animals means having lots of flies because they're attracted to all the manure.  And although we do still fly-spray our horses (more for mosquitoes than anything else), we have very few flies around the barns and animal cottages -- certainly not anywhere near the kind of fly problem you'd expect at a place with this many horses and other animals.

The reason is because we use a biological control called fly predators, which are tiny wasps whose entire goal in life is to find fly larvae and kill them.  They have the same life cycle as the fly, so if you time their release correctly, you can pretty much have these wasps suppress flies all summer long.  They don't work on all flies, but the common housefly and others. 

We get these fly predators from Spalding Labs, and they arrive every three weeks via the U.S. Mail in a cellophane bag that I'm holding in the photo above.  The bag holds some wood shavings and the brown pupa, or cocoon, that each of these beneficial insects is in at this stage of their life.  The pupa looks like a brown rice kernel.  When they first hatch, they're as small as gnats, but grow into little wasps that don't sting or bite or bother people or animals.  They pretty much hover near the ground around manure and other decaying organic material, searching for fly larvae.

When they start hatching, the predators look like this:

And that means it's time to start spreading!

There are about 50,000 of these predators in the bag, and I walked around this morning spreading them in the corrals and barns and across the yards.  We begin early -- in late spring -- spreading the predators and keep at it all summer long and into early fall.

Because they do have a certain odor to them, I put on a surgical glove before beginning my 'predator walk' around the ranch.  I reach into the bag, pull out a handful of the pupa, and toss them as I go.  Here's a close-up:

As to why I like these little guys so much ... I just think it's really neat to have a beneficial insect out there controlling flies for you.  Not only is it a healthy and natural way to control flies, it works. 

Comments

[Mary Young]

Why Steve, you look like you are from the heart of dixie in that hat!What a fashion statement you are making while preparing to kill flies!!!

[Linda]

Any chance for a photo of Amish man and Babuska lady together? I have an image of it in my mind but would love to see the real thing!

Kuddos on the wasp approach. You guys really do have it figured out!

[Janet in Cambridge]

Ichneumon wasps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonidae) are often part of IPM (Integrated Pest Management: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Pest_Management)gardening that attempts to reduce the use of pesticides as much as possible while using nature's own "pests" to do the same work. If you've ever seen a huge caterpillar brought down by the larvae of one of these creatures, you'd be very impressed.

[Evelyn - Tacoma]

The photo looks like an advertisement for "Hay Seed" catalog. Another career perhaps?

[Paul in Colorado]

The Hat!
"Trend-Setting Steve does it again" check back for style updates from the Montana range!!
Thanks for the info about the wasps, we could use that here! Im always afraid I'll get the batch with the wasp that ate Toledo

[Miranda]

You need black pants with suspenders and a white shirt to be more authentic Amish but you've got a good headstart! My friends like organic gardening and they buy packets of live lady bugs to release in the garden to kill pests so I'm forwarding your blog to them. They might want to order up a bag of your wasps too!

[ginger & Tobias (the greythound)]

Kudos on the beneficial insect approach! That's terrific! So many times chemicals can cause other problems, so it becomes an ongoing cycle of harm to the earth, animals, humans, etc.
By the way, I love the hat! Ok, so you do look like an Amish man, but you are protecting your neck, ears, etc. from the dangerous sun! That's definitely a winner & glad to see you taking care of yourself!
Hugs to all,
ginger, Tobias & Tlingit

[Carisa J]

Way to go, Steve and Alayne! This is a great way to help out the animals by not having so many pesky flies.

[Wendy]

You DO have a striking resemblance to Curious George's Dad! But I like the hat!

Thats neat that you have these little critters to chase the flies away for you. Being a horse owner I understand the frustration that flies can bring. What a cool idea!

[Celia]

Thanks for the fly predator tip. I'm a health inspector that investigates fly infestations and I usually recommend a pest control operator -- you've given me a good alternative.

Your blog is my homepage and you guys give me a lift every morning. I've got a rolling dog of my own (dachsund) that has no bowel control and your trials REALLY help me feel like I'm not a big idiot for keeping a dog that poops in the house. Of course, she pays her bill MANY times over every day, but when she let's it drop right when my dinner guests sit down to eat I get a little insecure!

Celia

[Colleen & Sweet Kitty Erin - San Antonio TX]

I think you look dapper in your hat! Way to go on finding a safe & effective way to fight the flies!

[Boundforglory]

I've never seen an Amish farmer look better! ; )

What a learning experience this post has been; I love the organic nature of controlling flies.

Go forth your young man and spread the predators. heee...heee...

[Helen Rietz]

So glad to see you're taking an environmentally appropriate approach to the flies. And, hey, I like the hat - but then, I've rarely met a hat I didn't like.

[Kristen D.]

Looking at the photo above makes me think of "The Man With the Yellow Hat" from Curious George :)

Go little wasps!

[Pam Rose]

I'm with Alayne on the amish farmer thing. We live near many amish farmers and she hit it right on!

[Shirley * James * Portland, OR]

Amazing and very interesting. How do you find out about these things is beyond me.

[Barbara Arenal]

Bravo, Steve. So glad to see you're taking care of "yourself" for once! You give so much of your thought & energy to the animal residents, I'm sure its easy to forget to do the "right thing" for You. But the sun can be so very dangerous for skin, so kudos for gettin' the lid. Hey, you may be Amish-man, but I'm sure the critters don't mind and its certainly more fashionable than wearin' a Braca-brella.ha-ha I wouldn't doubt you'll have a horse or two try to take a chew at it if you stand too close tho. And I wonder, did it scare the "sighted" animals at first?

[Sue H]

I always learn something new from your blogs. I think that is such a cool way to control a pesky problem! By the way, I like the hat.