anyone had success with good bug chow to retain beneficials?

Has anyone had any success or other experiences using an artificial food supplement to keep beneficial insects on their plants? I will be releasing some adult lacewings into the garden this evening and plan to spray with the "Good Bug Chow" recipe from ghorganics. I'm wondering if anyone else has used this or a similar type of supplement ("wheast", "good bug food" etc) to keep the good bugs from dispersing from the garden.

scroll down to the good bug chow recipe
http://www.ghorganics.com/Beneficialinsect.html

GREAT LINK thanks garden_mermaid your knowledge knows no bounds - gotta try the lady bug recipe....and hey all you lurkers out there.....I know you are there I was there once.....do pop in and give G_M your results....I promise I will....

Nadine

Great link! I'm interested to try it. My roses were getting hit pretty bad with aphids early this year, but one spray with a hose and a little bit of time brought the lady bugs and lace wings right in. I think all the yarrow in my yard has attracted the benificials like crazy. Last year, none, this year after the yarrow, no problems at all. I seem to have lady bugs everywhere. I even saw a toad today. Have no idea where he came from, but now i need to find out how to keep him!

I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone knows the recipe, off hand? The Golden Harvest link isn't working for me and I've ordered some lady bugs for a aphid problem on my brugs.

Anyone remember how to make the bug chow?

This link is working this morning, but here is the recipe:
Good Bug Chow
Mix all the following ingredients together in a glass or plastic container:
2/3 cup of warm water
4 tablespoons of brewer's yeast
2 teaspoons of honey
1/2 cup of sugar

To use: Take 2 tablespoons of the mix and dilute it in 1 quart of lukewarm water. Use this solution to spray on plants in the spring and early part of summer. Remember don't spray plants when temperatures are over 80F. Store the mixture in a sealed container in the refrigerator so it won't go rancid. It will keep for 7-10 days. The sugar in it is actually good for your plants.

From Golden Harvest Organics; http://www.ghorganics.com/Beneficialinsect.html, 4/17/08

This message was edited May 12, 2008 4:40 PM

garden_mermaid,

Where did you purchase your lacewings? Mailorder?

Thanks

Last time I purchased them via "mailorder" through Peaceful Valley Farm Supply.
They were out of the lacewing larvae so I ordered the adults at the direction of the customer service rep, who indicated that the adults would do just as good a job.
Live and learn. I needed eggs or larvae to get the maximum pest control.
The adults seemed to hang around for awhile with the bug chow, but not the results I wanted.

This year I'll be ordering directly from the insectary - Rincon-Vitova.
http://www.rinconvitova.com/index.htm