Bugs

[jdmidwest]

While waiting around the house this morning waiting for it to get good and hot to go gar fishing, I walked down to the garden. I stood watching the bees pollinating my cucumbers trying to pattern the direction they were coming from. There were sweat bees, mason bees, and alot of honeybees. They are coming from the west, probably from a tame hive since they were pretty tame.

I noticed a garter snake laying under the tomatoes trying to get cool, I relocated him with the hoe.

Then I looked over at the Jap Beetle trap I placed out on Thurs. I emptied it last night before dark. It was already overflowing. They were really working this morning. They have been on my pole beans some, but for the most part, they seem to be in my pin oak trees. It is a shame we could not find a natural predator for them. They are really taking over around here in the pest dept. All locations have been sold out of traps this week, I had to go far out of town to find this one.

[Feathers and Fins]

JD a friend of mine taught me a trick years back. Take a bucket and place a hole in the lid. fill it with water and place a pvc pipe about 8inches out of it.. Now take the unharmed beatles and put them in the pipe and crush them. The scent the release will attract the other beatles to the bucket where they will die in the water.

[jdmidwest]

JD a friend of mine taught me a trick years back. Take a bucket and place a hole in the lid. fill it with water and place a pvc pipe about 8inches out of it.. Now take the unharmed beatles and put them in the pipe and crush them. The scent the release will attract the other beatles to the bucket where they will die in the water.

That would work too. When the trap overflowed, I crushed a bunch on the ground with my foot. I noticed they were swarming them too. The trap works better when there are already live bugs in it. I will have to do some engineering this afternoon. I could pick up some extra bait packs at the store and use them in the pvc pipe also. What size pvc works best? With this commercial trap, they slap into the yellow paddles and drop into the lower chamber. Sounded like rain awile ago.

I have been dumping into a zip lock bag and leaving it out in the sun to kill them.

[Feathers and Fins]

He and I both used just simple 1/2 pvc pipe. Worked great

[jdmidwest]

I am going to need a bigger trap. Each time I checked today they were full to the top. I stood out and watched it fill up once about 1 this afternoon. Seems like they fly better in the heat of the day.

[jdmidwest]

Gave up on zip lock bags and dragged out a kitchen size garbage bag to dump the bugs in. As of now, I estimate the bag probably weighs 15 lbs or better and will dump tonights catch in the morning before trash pickup.

Bugs are still coming in to traps in swarms.

Picked up another trap in St. Gen. today. Everyone is sold out locally.

[Idylwilde]

Bluegill Food!!!! Hang a trap over the water and the pearch will gather under it all day. Their bellys will be full.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

JD, Home Depot in Festus has plenty of them, but as I understand they are just starting to migrate. I am told, that late June and all of July are prime months for the Jefferson County/St Louis area. I like the bluegill food idea.

Another tip, with the Japanese beetles, the bait will attract the beetles from acres away, so you may be getting beetles in your trap that would have never been around your house. So, make sure to place the trap(s) far from your plants.

[Quillback]

JD, Home Depot in Festus has plenty of them, but as I understand they are just starting to migrate. I am told, that late June and all of July are prime months for the Jefferson County/St Louis area. I like the bluegill food idea.

Another tip, with the Japanese beetles, the bait will attract the beetles from acres away, so you may be getting beetles in your trap that would have never been around your house. So, make sure to place the trap(s) far from your plants.

Yep,. that's why I quit using them, just seems to bring more of them in.

[jdmidwest]

The only plant in the garden affected is the pole beans, I dosed them with a liquid Sevin mix and stopped that.

When I put the traps out, the bugs started dropping down out of several Pin Oaks in the back yard to the traps. I played around Sat and Sun with the location of the trap and the wind. I would move the trap with the wind and draw them out of different trees.

The first infestation I noticed was 2 years ago, they obliterated my next door neighbors grape vine. It was also the time a local farmer planted several acres of wine grapes. Last year was the first for traps, I put them out when I started seeing some in the pole beans. They seem to like pole beans, they attack from the top down.

What I wonder, even though I trapped a bunch last summer, were there several that laid eggs in those areas of the traps and came back in force this year? Moles were worse this year too, maybe eating the grubs?