Healthy and Green Living » Natural Pest Control

The Best Green Ways to Rid Your Yard of Ticks and Mosquitoes

Annie B. Bond — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:00:47 +0000

I went about writing this article as if I were researching tick and mosquito abatement I would consider doing myself. For something I would buy myself, it has to be non-toxic, and because I am well-read in the green field, a relatively sophisticated product in terms of understanding of the science, and one that [...]

Green Girl Ticks Off Ticks

Lily Berthold-Bond — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:00:30 +0000

Not going to lie, we’ve been getting some pretty freaky storms up here in the northeast. Major thunder. Lots of hail. Intense lightning. Well, the other day one of these storms hit at about 10:30 a.m. I, of course, was still asleep, and mother was away, much to my dogs’ chagrin. I [...]

Bee Sting Savvy: Prevention and Treatment

Melissa Breyer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:00:05 +0000

In the midst of a serious and mysterious decline in honeybee colonies, it seems prudent to respect the bees that cross our paths. Swatting, smushing, and spraying should be avoided�and remember that when a honeybee stings you, she dies. Preventing stings is a boon to both the bees and us; here�s how to reduce the risk of being stung. . .and just in case, how to best treat bee stings naturally.

13 Deer-Resistant Plants

Annie B. Bond — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:00:42 +0000

A challenge many of face is making pretty flower pots, planters, and gardens from which the deer won't eat the flowers. Deer have a wide range of plants in their diet, but there are a few that they stay away from unless the plant is outside in the middle of a brutally cold winter.

Green Girl Blings Bug Sprays

Lily Berthold-Bond — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:00:55 +0000

So, this week I started work for the summer. Outside. In a garden. While some of you may have found work in the nice air-conditioned mall, or sitting around in a store in town, or waiting tables at a restaurant, some of us will be working outside allll day allll summer. Fact: Gardening is harder [...]

6 Ways to Thwart Snails and Slugs

Annie B. Bond — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:00:05 +0000

Slugs and snails are a huge problem in many gardens, especially those with tender-leafed plants that have lots of folds or large sheltering leaves low to the ground, such as lettuce, hostas and tender seedlings. Luckily, there are many ways to stop these critters. 1. Ammonia and water. Mix equal parts non-sudsing ammonia and water [...]

Ask Annie: Mitigating Mice

Annie B. Bond — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:00:05 +0000

Dear Annie I have mice and they are multiplying fast. I hear them in the walls and I sometimes even find them in the bathtub in the morning! Help! — Karen, MI Dear Karen I have mice, too, and have tried everything non-toxic under the sun. I tried sonic mice �chasers,� which give off a pulse that [...]

Make Rose Petal Mother’s Day Sachets

Annie B. Bond — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:00:17 +0000

Herbal sachets filled with rose petals and lavender are coming into vogue again to repel moths, ever since the government identified those naphthalene moth balls as a suspected cause of cancer. Take a few minutes to make your mother or grandmother these healthier alternatives. Choose a lovely fabric for a beautifully scented sachet and you [...]

Don’t Bite Me: A Safe Bug Repellent

Annie B. Bond — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:00:01 +0000

It is all well and good to want to be a caretaker of the Earth and live in as eco-friendly way as is possible, but who wants to get bit by ticks and mosquitoes, especially these days when both carry disease?

Pest adapts to GM crops

Annie B. Bond — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:05:17 +0000

FEBRUARY 9, 2008—Bollworms in cotton fields in Mississippi and Arkansas have genetically mutated to resist a toxin biotechnologists inserted into cotton crops, researchers at the University of Arizona found.

In a study of six pests in genetically modified cotton and corn in Australia, China, Spain and the United States, researchers discovered genetic adaptation in only the bollworms in a dozen fields in the United States.

The toxin inserted into the cotton plant is a common bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt. The bollworms have become resistant to the Bt toxin strain Cry1Ac.

"What we're seeing is evolution in action," lead researcher Bruce Tabashnik told Terra Daily. "This is the first documented case of field-evolved resistance to a Bt crop."

Published in the British journal Nature Biotechnology, the study found that the other five pests studied continue to be susceptible to Bt.

"The resistance occurred in one particular pest in one part of the U.S.," Tabashnik told Terra Daily. "The other major pests attacking Bt crops have not evolved resistance. And even most bollworm populations have not evolved resistance."

Bollworm evolution happened more rapidly in fields where there were few or no non-genetically modified plants nearby. Without non-resistant bollworms in the area, the opportunities for a resistant bollworms to mate with a non-resistant bollworms to create hybrid, non-resistant bollworms were diminished, thus speeding adaptation to the toxin among bollworms. In most pests, both parents must be resistant to the toxin in order for the offspring to inherit resistance.