[nemie]

Hi, I seem to have lost all my Bean seeds to bean fly, little white tiny maggots  so what should I do now, as I have just read that the bean fly can planet around 300 eggs, I have pulled up all the bean seeds only 3 had not been attacked, the rest had maggots on or and inside the seeds.

I think my mistake was turning the ground in may/June, maybe I should have done this during winter less chance to attract the bean fly, so apart from some leeks that seem to be doing very well I have nothing else planted in that area, shall i give it another dig and turn and add some insecticide, I have cabbage and carrots, that will need to be planted on this bit of my garden within 2 weeks.

What insecticide should I use.

[Yorkie]

Bean fly is, I think, host specific so will not affect carrots or cabbage.

I doubt that there is an insecticide which you can apply to the soil, if that's what you're asking?

[Salmo]

Bean seed flies lay their eggs on freshly moved soil, especially if there is manure or other rotting material present. They usually feed on rotting material but if bean seeds are present they prefer them. They also feed on other seeds and their attacks on onion seedlings are often mistaken for onion fly.

The solution is to raise beans in pots and plant out. Not too late now.