Monarch Butterflies

I have been planting milkweed around my home for 2 years now along with raising monarch caterpillars inside my home.  I release them into the world after 24 hours of coming out of their chrysalis.

This year is the first year I have found monarch eggs on the milkweed plants outside my home.  I am so happy all my hard work is paying off finally.  I have planted so many flowers and milkweed around my home.  It keeps the monarch coming back for more nourishment and they also lay their eggs on the milkweed.

Twice a day I venture outside to check the milkweed plants for eggs or for hatched caterpillars.  Once I find the eggs or small caterpillars, I take them inside and put them in an old ice cube tray lined with a wet paper towel.  The paper towel helps to contain the moisture of the leaf until the egg hatches.  It generally takes 4 days for them to hatch.

The reason I have been taking them inside is because there are so many aphids and ants on the milkweed plants that can harm the eggs and small caterpillars.  They have a better chance of survival indoors.  I don’t take all of the eggs I find inside.  I take about 10 a day and then let nature take it’s course outside after that.

I did some research on natural ways to get rid of the aphids.

So, what is a natural way to get rid of those pesky aphids on your milkweed plants.

Why lady bugs of course!  I just ordered 1,500 lady bugs from amazon to help control the aphids.  They will be arriving by Wednesday.

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