WHEN CREATING a sustainable farming operation, it's important to understand the role beneficial insects will play.  There is a very simple natural balance.  For every harmful insect there is an equal beneficial insect.  This balance is destroyed when mankind interferes with genetically modified insects and when non-indidgenous insects are introduced into an environment. 

WITHIN A sustainable farming operation, beneficial insects can fulfill three roles.  First, as pest control and 2nd, as...

a crop production in and of themselves.  The 3rd is to aid with decomposition in your Compost PIle.  The farming process draws insects, many of which are harmful.  They destroy roots, leaves and produce. Sometimes attempts at sustainable farming can even be thwarted if the compost is not prepared correctly, thus creating bad nematodes and drawing harmful insects. The 2nd reason is to produce food crops for the other animals within your sustainable farming operation.

SEE OUR Composting section for more informaton on proper Compost preparation.

Here is this article I found that is very informative about attracting Beneficial Insects

If you would like to purchase some of these Beneficial Insects for your garden, click here:

I'm going to take a moment to climb onto my soapbox about my absolutely FAVORITE of all the Beneficial insect-type creatures.  SPIDERS!!  I LOVE Spiders!!!  

MYTH:  Spiders are harmful...
FALSE - SPIDERS are the 2nd most beneficial insect-like creature on the planet.  They do more for actual insect control than most other species combined.  Spiders in your home are eating dust mites, bed bugs and roaches.  Spiders in your garden are eating aphids, mosquitos, spider mites, catepillars, and most other harmful insects.  Wasps are NOT beneficial because they eat spiders.  That would be like saying Cats are beneficial because they eat birds, because one or two species of birds are destructive.  There are very few actually dangerous spiders and most of those dont want anything to do with us Humans.  Hollywood has convinced humans to be afraid of Spiders, yet when you read history, spiders were never considred scary creatures until Hollywood came along and told everyone they were scary. There are not any "old Farmers Almanacs" prior to 1945 with advice on how to destroy spiders.  That's because they recognized spider benefits (especially on farms where they couldnt afford insecticides or before insecticides were invented).  In Fact, as recently as February 4th, 2022, the Old Farmers Almanac is still promoting using natural means to deter spides from entering your home, harmlessly while mentioning how beneficial spiders truly are.  SPIDERS ARE NOT PESTS and should not be controlled in an actual Sustainable Homestead or Organic garden. An example of this is how wolf spiders actually prey on brown recluse spiders.  If you find a wolf spider in your basement, it is likely hunting brown recluse spiders.  If its a huge wolf spider then SHE is hunting brown recluse spiders.  If you see a weirdly shaped large wolf spider, then SHE is being an amazing Momma and doing the best she can to care for all her little spiderlings, and maybe also hunting brown recluses LOL...  

Some of the more common beneficial insects can be seen below, along with image links to articles about them:

Honey Bees	Braconid Wasps	Ladybug/Lady Beetles
Spiders	Praying Mantis	Wheel Bugs
Lightening Bugs/Fireflies	Soldier Bugs	Black and Red Soldier Bugs
Nematodes (and their victim)	Chalcidoid Wasp (White Fly Parasite)	Mealworm Beetle
Mason Bees	Dragonflies	Damselflies
Trichogramma Wasps	Assassin Bugs	Crane Fly Mosquito Hawk
Pill Bug Roly Poly Isopod	Walking Stick Bug	Soldier Fly

 

The links below are for products that will help to make your garden more attractive to the beneficial insects you are interested in attracting to your garden:

	Bee House for Solitary Bee Breeds