Product Endorsement.
This year has been murder on plants susceptible to the Japanese Beetle. They have eaten every rose, every Linden, many crabs and grapes.
Oh, you can spray for the bad bugs but using Sevin (carbyl) leaves a residue powder that is suspect in the decline of the bee population. We need bees so I have not sprayed Sevin.
Then I ran into a product that astounds me. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it work.
BAG A BUG.
I have 3 of these things in my yard. I emptied them out after a week. It was a huge pile of dead jap beetles. Maybe 3 gallons worth. Thousands. Amazing.
It is creepy and if you can't stand bugs it's really creepy. But it works.
Apparently horny male beetles leap into this thing. At least that's what the literature says. I hope a few females make the plunge as well.
The emerald ash borer is a close relative of the jap beetle. Perhaps this is a tool in warfare against this bad bug that is destroying ash everywhere.
Get one. The season's almost over, but next summer, as soon as I have seen even one, I will deploy this weapon.
1 comment:
The thing to remember is to put the bags in a location that will draw the beetles away from your trees. The problem with the bags is that they are very effective at attracting the beetles, so you do attract them to your yard. The best thing is to convince your whole neighborhood to put them up. Also, the bugs omit some kind of pheromones or odor that attracts others when they find a new tree. So it is best to rid the tree of the bugs when they first arrive. Watch the tops of the trees as that is where they like to start.
You may want to try the following:
Lay a ground cloth around the tree or bush.
Shake the tree vigorously to drop the bugs, but not vigorous enough to drop the fruit.
Spray the bugs with soapy water or dump them into a solution of soapy water and dispose of them.
By the way I have been told a bag of bugs has a horrific odor.
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