primitives discuss getting rid of Japanese beetles

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=287x9214

Oh my.

But I dunno if I'd take advice about getting rid of Japanese beetles from a primitive who eats his tacos with a spoon.

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Mon Jun-20-11 03:19 PM
Original message
 
Japanese beetles. Are they worth the fight for a homeowner?

About ten years ago my neighborhood was overrun by them. They were eating almost everything. Some bushes and small trees we had planted were covered with them. And they bite. My neighbors both had some nice mature hedges in full bloom that they just loved to eat. The three of us got to work trying to eradicate them and save our greenery but it was a losing battle. Think we did more damage to ourselves using the watered down nerve agent we were using to kill them with. Made me dizzy every time I used the stuff.

Seemed about the time we just about thought we had them whooped they came back with a vengeance. Worse than before. They finally killed just about everything green with leaves on it we had planted. The hedges were all dead as were our bushes and small trees.

We all finally gave up and yanked out what was left of what they liked eating and replaced it with pines, ferns and some other stuff that they won't eat.

The beetles won. It wasn't worth the fight. Wasn't even close. Take this advice from someone with some first hand experience.

Don

CC  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-22-11 01:45 AM
Response to Original message
 
1. We used to have them bad here. 

I used the beetle traps with a pheromone bait. First summer we had full bags in no time(daily). Second summer took a week or more to fill the bags and the third summer we hardly had any beetles. Haven't used them since and it has been at least 15 years. I would get more if I see any again. If you ever decide to try again I would recommend giving them a try. I used one called Bag-A-Bug. I never used any poison on my yard so if it wasn't the bags don't know what else could of gotten rid of them.

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jun-22-11 03:01 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. Those things are brutal and will defoliate and kill shrubs and trees

so you do need to fight the little suckers. Chances are you sprayed too late last year and they'd already laid sufficient eggs to be back this year.

A better bet is to combine lawn spraying and early foliage spraying. This year, the best you can do is spray the adults at ground level. Start planning now to kill the grubs under lawns during the winter and the newly emerged beetles in spring before they have a chance to mate.

WhiteTara  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jun-23-11 11:49 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. So, are you saying that by changing out the exotics for the natives, you had foliage?

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sun Jun-26-11 06:55 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
6. Now that I have thought about it that is probably about right

Most of what we now have planted is native stuff. The only leafy trees that the beetles never bothered was our group of about ten Osage Orange trees which are native to America. Nothing ever bothers them. They ate everything else. I don't think I have ever seen even an ant crawling on them.

I think you may be right about this. The beetles seemed to like the taste of fruity or sweet smelling plants the best. We had a mature pear tree and they ate that up fast.

Don

Kolesar  (1000+ posts)        Fri Jun-24-11 12:51 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. Milky spore kills the grubs in the larval stage in the fall.

www.milkyspore.com

I have not used it yet. I am going to apply some before this fall. There is a granualated form for use with a regular drop spreader. The powder is hard to apply. You need a special spreader.

Milky spore adds microbes to the garden that get higher in population every year.

trud  (957 posts)      Fri Jun-24-11 10:06 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. how bout vacuuming them up

just a thought. Then put the paper vac bags in tightly tied trash bags.

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sun Jun-26-11 07:10 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
7. Talking about millions of them

And they eat night and day. If they aren't eating they are mating. Sometimes they mate and eat at the same time. And they bite.

I think it is best to just take out what they eat because they will kill it anyway and replace it with stuff they don't eat myself.

Haven't seen one since we did that.

Don

[JohnnyReb]

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sun Jun-26-11 07:10 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
7. Talking about millions of them

And they eat night and day. If they aren't eating they are mating. Sometimes they mate and eat at the same time. And they bite.

I think it is best to just take out what they eat because they will kill it anyway and replace it with stuff they don't eat myself.

Haven't seen one since we did that.

Don

(The bold area) I'd say that's a pretty accurate description of a modern day, government tit sucking liberal....wouldn't you?

[Karin]

A landscaper I know swears by the bag-a-bug.  He non-political-correctly referred to them as "Those Dirty Japs."   

[Skul]

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sun Jun-26-11 07:10 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
7. Talking about millions of them

And they eat night and day. If they aren't eating they are mating. Sometimes they mate and eat at the same time. And they bite suck.

I think it is best to just take out what they eat because they will kill it anyway and replace it with stuff they don't eat myself.

Haven't seen one since we did that.

Don

(The bold area) I'd say that's a pretty accurate description of a modern day, government tit sucking liberal....wouldn't you?

Aah, much better now.

[marv]

I do have to sympathize. But Japanese Beetles are like liberals, they're damned hard to get rid of. It takes time and patience, but it can get done.

My roses are doing better this year since I've started using the "Liberal" beetle traps.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

 

[NHSparky]

Yeah, I find if I don't use the "Bag-A-Bug" traps about 30-40 feet away from my cherry trees, they'll have no leaves come August.

[GOBUCKS]

Bag-A-Bug traps are very satisfying when you see how many bugs you kill, but they don't do much to save your plants from the little bastards.

I've found Sevin to be almost 100% effective, as long as I respray after every rainfall. The only thing I gave up on was roses. The beetles burrow into rosebuds as they open, and you can't apply bug poison quickly enough to prevent that.

To me, milky spore is a total waste of money and time. It takes forever to propagate through your lawn, and even if you kill your grubs, millions of bugs are flying around from other lawns.

I don't have much of a Japanese beetle problem now. The deer eat most everything before the beetles come out.

[jukin]

I saw this and naturally thought that it was some sexual disease that the boy molesting pedos at the DUmp brought back from Thailand.

[md11hydmec]

Actually I read on the internet that if you run around naked, burning sage and chanting about hands and healing white light it'll get rid of Japanese Beetles........




Or was that for ghost chickens? 

[AllosaursRus]

trud  (957 posts)      Fri Jun-24-11 10:06 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. how bout vacuuming them up

just a thought. Then put the paper vac bags in tightly tied trash bags.

This is hilarious! How big a vacuum do ya think you'd have to have? Paper bags? Holy smokes, from the sounds of it, you'd have to own the damn factory! hahahahahahahahaha! Brilliant!

Bag-A-Bug traps are very satisfying when you see how many bugs you kill, but they don't do much to save your plants from the little bastards.

I've found Sevin to be almost 100% effective, as long as I respray after every rainfall. The only thing I gave up on was roses. The beetles burrow into rosebuds as they open, and you can't apply bug poison quickly enough to prevent that.

To me, milky spore is a total waste of money and time. It takes forever to propagate through your lawn, and even if you kill your grubs, millions of bugs are flying around from other lawns.

I don't have much of a Japanese beetle problem now. The deer eat most everything before the beetles come out.

Hell, I still have some chlordane my gramps left me! It lasts for 99 years! If that don't work, I'll use some of the quart of DDT he held on to!

ETA: Suck on that, ya DUmp monkey morons!

[BattleHymn]

Have they tried a drum circle around the affected shrub/tree/plant?

[marv]

Spraying is out of the question for us. We've got pups that run around the back yard, in and out of the rose bushes. The traps aren't 100% effective, but the best bet short of a nuke.

[GOBUCKS]

Spraying is out of the question for us. We've got pups that run around the back yard, in and out of the rose bushes. The traps aren't 100% effective, but the best bet short of a nuke.

Sevin dust is pretty safe. I've known people who used it for years to dust their dogs for fleas and swear by it.

I don't know if I'd use it that way, but I'd have no fear of having pets around plants that had been dusted per the container directions.

[Skul]

Sevin is quite  good.
Hard to find now days.
The Chlorodane, Al mentioned was also good.
Too bad you can't get it any more.
The PC crowd would rather the bugs eat your house.
Termites before people sort of thing.

[AllosaursRus]

Spraying is out of the question for us. We've got pups that run around the back yard, in and out of the rose bushes. The traps aren't 100% effective, but the best bet short of a nuke.

I don't have much of a choice. 140 acres is just way too much to dust, so I have to spray. I just keep the dogs in for a few days until it dissipates. Besides, we've been doin' it for years and what I have found is that the only species that lives long enough for it to **** with is humans.

Takes decades for ill effects to show up unless you get some kind of overdose, so domestic animals and most wildlife aren't effected. After research, they even figured out it wasn't the DDT ****in' with the egg shells of eagles. So they pretty much killed thousands of the poor in order to make some sort of political point!

Liberalism! Ya just gotta luv it!

[debk]

Used this stuff at the other house, and considering we lived in the woods, it worked fairly well against the Japanese beetles. Nothing worked against the spiders.



Haven't really seen the JB's much this year. Either they froze during the winter, drowned while still in the ground, or the heat got to them. But they should be everywhere and they just aren't. 

The no-see-ums, however, are everywhere and there are a whole bunch of them. We even sprayed the deck and they are still there.  They LOVE me. 

[GOBUCKS]

The no-see-ums, however, are everywhere and there are a whole bunch of them. We even sprayed the deck and they are still there.  They LOVE me. 

I don't remember a worse year for them. Terrible. We can sit outside, but only with a Thermacell. Otherwise you have to spray with greasy Off.

[debk]

I don't remember a worse year for them. Terrible. We can sit outside, but only with a Thermacell. Otherwise you have to spray with greasy Off.

The last couple of evenings it's been really nice out on the deck, and it's in the shade and there's a breeze by about 5. I managed to stay out there reading last night until about 7 before I couldn't stand it anymore. I was itching so bad, I finally showered about 11, thinking that would stop the itching. Nope, I have bites all over my legs this morning.