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Japanese beetles

I found my first JB of the season today here in western KY.

Comments (117)

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    You must have a large property. I've read that many with suburban sized lots try and get their neighbors to put down the spore also so they don't just fly in from next door. Connie at Hartford roses made an ingenious fix with the traps and said they helped if kept away from the roses.

  • Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal
    4 years ago
    Last summer Colorado State University released a Japanese Beatle parasite, Istocheta aldrichi, also known as winsome fly. It feeds on adult JB.
    https://www.botanicgardens.org/blog/japanese-beetle-biological-control-release
    Hopefully this will help the folks in the Denver area
    Parasitic wasps, Tiphia vernalis and T. popilliavora, were released in the Northeast USA in the 20’s to 40’s and are established now. But it sounds like they haven’t been helping much. Maybe because they feed on the larva of the JB and the milky spore bacteria kills the larvae and the developing wasp with it as suggested in this article.
    http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf508.html Perhaps given more time these pests will adapt to the climate conditions and lifecycle of the JB here in the US and keep them to a low level.
    Deborah MN zone 4 thanked Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal
  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    The Japanese Beetles have arrived. I picked 6 off my roses today, which is a really small number. The Bayer products I applied seemed to have slowed down some of the beetles I picked off over the noon hour when they are usually fast in 90 degree weather. Instead, the beetles were congregating on a dwarf cherry tree, today. A few days ago they were devouring my neighbor's pole bean leaves.

    My conclusion is that the Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect and Feed I applied to 28 of my rose bushes, and the Bayer 3-in-1 I applied to 13 of my rose bushes, seems to work so far in the first week of the Japanese Beetle arrival. And by keeping them off in the early going, it seems less likely they will congregate on roses in great numbers. I had a tiny bit of damage to one fully open rose bloom, whereas in past years by July 2 they would have devoured all the rose blooms and buds by now.

    Flowers in my rose bed are still in their first bloom cycle due to the late spring, and are still abundant. My roses are blooming this year like they did 20-years ago before Japanese Beetles.

  • archman0712
    4 years ago

    Mark...do you know if the Bayer Tree and Shrub is safe for bees and beneficials? If yes, then I plan to use it next year as well. Is it too late to use now, would you know? They’re after my David Austins...



  • Nola z5aWI
    4 years ago

    That’s great news Mark! Please keep us updated on your progress throughout the summer. My best efforts are to have decoy plants that they like more than my favorites, this would be honeysuckle and a rugosa that blooms like crazy. Last year the beetles showed up June 22, this year I saw one on June 24 but none since.


    Nola

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    archman0712 : I cannot guarantee Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect and Feed would not damage honey bees. That said, almost all my roses are double, and honey bees do not generally alight on double roses. I did have quite a few honey bees on my chives when they flowered. But they didn't visit my roses just 20-yards away.

    Thistle Thrower Z5aWI: I was out in that part of my garden where I have 34 rose bushes. I noticed probably a half-dozen dead JBs. I inspected more carefully to determine what damage they did, and it seemed they would chew a concentric circle into a petal perhaps 3-5 mm, and that's all the further they get and go belly up. There are not enough JBs yet to give off much in phernomes to cause others to gather. I am just amazed at the turn around in my rose beds. The Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect was applied in mid-April to about 28 of the roses, and I didn't have enough so I applied Bayer 3-in-1 on the remaining roses about the weekend of June 20 The 3-in-1 lasts only 6-weeks, whereas the Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect represents it is good for a year. I see quite a few flies around my roses, but only two dead ones all year. I have had no insect damage other than the very limited damage from the dead JBs.


    This was going to be my last year of extensive rose gardening if this solution didn't work. I didn't want to give up my passion for growing roses without a fight. I meticulously prepared the bed this spring picking every fallen leaf from around each rose to help reduce the chances for diseases. I picked weeds. I sprayed a white vinegar mixture between plants to get the weeds down. I then applied a thick layer of cypress mulch. I have controlled the weeds effectively for the first time in years.


    I maintained a regular spray program for fungal diseases. This has been the wettest year since 1993, well I take that back, we have had 500-year floods since then. I have had no blackspot or powdery mildew. Maybe a bit of botritis but I am not sure you could call it botritis; just a little bit of balling on a few thickly petaled blooms, but not much. It has been a marvel to see the rose beds doing well, again.


    A 90-year old lady walked by a few days ago with her dog and said, "Thank you for what you are doing. I walk by every morning and I really enjoy the roses." It's not just for me, I put them out by the sidewalk for others to enjoy. I had another gal in her mid-20s walk by in May before they were blooming and tell me how much she enjoyed walking by here as a kid. I told her this year will be the best they have been in 20-years. And as it turned out, they have been.

  • Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland
    4 years ago

    Haven’t seen any here yet, fingers crossed. Mark is the active ingredient in the Bayer product imidacloprid? If so, Archman, it is not known to be safe for beneficials.

  • Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
    4 years ago

    Dingo, keep those fingers crossed. I’ve had them here for two weeks. Each day the numbers of them increase.

    Beneficials are in your yard for several reasons. Two of which are to eat the bugs that harm your plants or collect pollen. The pollen will contain the insecticide as will the bad insects. So they are not safe for beneficials.

    So now it is confession time. I by my own choice have not used insecticides for thirty years. For the most part this has turned out very well. Yesterday due to extreme heat and humidities I snapped. I know excuses, excuses what about accountability. I had taken off all the flowers on Oscar Peterson since they are a JB favorite. Went it later to see literally a couple hundred beetles devouring all of the leaves. I sprayed raid on them. I am sorry little bugs but not sorry about the beetles.

    When I was a child my mom used to hang those aluminum containers from pot pies In the cherry trees. It worked rather well. Without them the birds would get all of the cherries.

    So here goes another dumb experiment. I’m going take aluminum foil strips and try hanging a few in a beetle favorite rose. You never know what might happen. Some little bitty bells that make noise might work better but I haven’t any.

  • Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland
    4 years ago

    Oh man I was hoping for a break this year. I thought maybe the cold winter would nuke them. I haven’t seen as many grubs as I used to. Mark no judgment here in using the Bayer stuff. I’m so glad you are having a good year of flowers!

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Yes it is imidacloprid.

    Honey bees rarely visit my roses. I have seen no honey bees around my roses in years. I was surprised to see honey bees clustered on my chives in Late May and early June. I didn't know they liked chives.

    Every situation is different.


  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    I think the bees like the colour.

  • vesfl (zone 5b/6a, Western NY)
    4 years ago

    Of the perennials I grow, bees are all over my asters in the fall and purple coneflower (echinacea purpurea) and rudbeckia throughout summer and fall. They also love annual zinnias that I regularly plant (as they speak to me 'cheerfulness') and, as an added bonus, bees love them. My smaller version of Joe Pye weed attracts both bees and butterflies, as do asters (probably my favorite fall perennial besides Japanese anemones), and I also often see butterflies on the milkweed (I have incarnata species but will soon get tuberosa as well), phloxes, and astilbe.

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago

    The JBs are still dying from the Bayer soil drench but it seems at a slower pace. Not sure if that's because it has been longer since 28 of the roses were treated in April with the Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect and Feed, or because the JB season progressed and I am getting up to 10 beetles per bloom as they give off more phernomes. The beetles were still moving at dusk. Unlike past years, they are attacking blooms - but not all blooms. They have not started on leaves or rose buds. So I am still getting some flowers unlike past years.

    I was going to start hanging out beetle traps this year. I haven't done so yet, but am getting closer due to the numbers of beetles coming into my yard.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    Attacking any bushes more than another? Did both insecticides you apply contain the same ingredient but in differing amounts? I'm just wondering if they're attacking some roses that had a different insecticide applied?

  • enchantedrosez5bma
    4 years ago

    Patty, I'm so glad that you wrote in regard to the dangers of insecticides. I have stopped using anything: no pesticides, no fungicides, no chemical weed killers. In spring I lay down magazine and catalog pages under my fresh layer of mulch. It uses up stuff that is either "recycled" or worse, ends up in landfills and doesn't tend to blow away like newspaper. I wet it down really well
    and then mulch on top. Next to no weeds.


    We are surrounded by swamp so have quite a bit of aquatic life visiting our yard. Bullfrogs, tree frogs, snakes, salamanders, dragonflies. I've read that fungicides are harmful to aquatic life so I just try to plant roses that are resistant to black spot. Most Kordes, DA 'Olivia' 'Wedgewood Rose', 'Desdemona', 'Teasing Georgia', Heritage, 'Wollerton Old Hall', 'Queen of Sweden' and 'Windermere' all are pretty resistant to bs.


    We also have bumblebees, butterflies and fireflies as well as other welcome insects like hover flies and wasps so no pesticide use. I'm not seeing any JB's but have seen their dastardly cousin the Chinese Rose Beetle, still not many, thankfully.


    I have managed to kill Gypsy moth caterpillars and aphids with Dawn dishwash detergent and garlic powder mixed in water. I have read that peppermint oil is a deterrent to mosquitoes and have used it instead of Deet with decent results. I'm wondering if sprayed on the roses if it would deter JB's and other chewing insects. I've also read that a cedar spray works as a deterrent but haven't tried that yet. We don't have a lawn and live in a pretty rural area so maybe that's why I don't see many JB's.


    Another thing that works but is a bit unsightly is the organza gift bags or tulle bags tied around the buds. It won't keep the beetles from eating the leaves but at least the buds are safe. You can get these for a reasonable price at Michaels if you use a 40 or 50% off coupon. I wonder if this would work against rose midge if the young growth was wrapped immediately. The organza is a very tight weave so the midge fly wouldn't be able to get through it. I think I'll give this a try. I don't have a lot of midge but don't want it to get worse as time goes by.


    Keep us posted on whether your aluminum strips work or not.

    Sharon


  • Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Thanks Sharon, it can be really difficult to mention insecticides without offending someone. One thing that is helping with midge here is spiderwebs. It was hard for me to learn to learn to leave that lower foliage on the rose. Midge causes a lot of blind shoots and encourages spiders to build webs low and higher up. Midge is easily caught in webs.

    I thought that I would not survive going insecticide free. After a few years everything has worked out rather well. Barely even think about it anymore.

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Attacking any bushes more than another? Did both insecticides you apply contain the same ingredient but in differing amounts? I'm just wondering if they're attacking some roses that had a different insecticide applied? Responding to Vaporvac's question:

    Yes. Persistent victims of Japanese beetles right now are Graham Thomas (a light yellow), and Earthsong, a luminescent pink. The beetles seem to be dying at a slower pace on these two bushes, both treated with the Shrub and Tree Protect in April. The first 10 days of July the beetles would be dead by morning, and usually would most would be dead by nightfall. These two are big robust bushes so maybe the concentration of systemic insecticide in the bush is less than in some of the other smaller bushes. I tried to put more product in the bigger bushes, and less in the smaller bushes. As for concentration of the insecticide in these two products . . . I don't know if one is greater than the other, or why one is rated for a full year and the other is not.

    As far as numbers of blooms overall, and the quality of the rose garden it is much better. I would not have had any roses blooming at this time last year because the beetles would chew the flower buds before they bloomed.

    I can report that the systemic fungicide in the six week Bayer 3 in 1 product does not work for me. I have a separate garden with roses that were given that product in late June. I stopped spraying fungicides on those roses which typically are not very susceptible to blackspot, and a few days ago, about two weeks after I applied Bayer 3 in 1, three of the five roses in that garden developed blackspot.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    If it's the same ingredient, usually the higher concentration confers a longer half-life. Are they the same active ingredient? Fortunately, I don't get many of them and just use soapy water and get the dang cucumber beetles while I'm at it. I have many more of those later on. My main plague is midge, but I've seen the damage of the beetles. It could be that the larger bushes need more than you gave them. Is the product listed for JBs?

  • enchantedrosez5bma
    4 years ago

    Patty,

    I get a few webs but not that many. The spiders tend to build them across my arbors so we cn walk through them, lol.

    sharon

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago

    vaporvac: The products list Japanese beetles as one of the insects controlled. It is the only product that has given me a modicum of relief from the plague of these beetles.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    Is the tree and shrub for emeral ash borer? If so, I can't believe it's not still working. I think you just have a lot of JBs! Mabye it needs periodic watering in to reactivate it if you'r in a dry spell.

  • kentucky_rose zone 6
    4 years ago

    The JB’s are worse than usual for my garden this year. I usually spray some but do the soapy water cup multiple times a day, not this year, too many. I got a bottle of Bayer Complete Insect and did double strength and sprayed the tops. The next day about 80% were gone. I sprayed Friday and I probably need to spray again today or tomorrow, tops only. It’s a balancing act to not have a spidermite problem with the spraying and hot temps.





  • CaWill
    4 years ago

    Just found JB on my newly planted (early spring) Knock Out roses. I saw the chewing results a day or so ago but actually found about 4 mating beetles this morning. I removed them into a sealed plastic cup & did spray into the cup, but they will not survive. I do not use insecticide on anything outside, either. I have at one time used soap spray on one of my vines (honeysuckle) and worked but you have to reapply it very often. Main question is, will they actually kill a rose bush or is it just unsightly chewing? I've not had any actual experience with these before.

  • jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
    4 years ago

    mostly just unsightly chewing...

  • CaWill
    4 years ago

    Thank you jim 1961 -I will have some soap spray handy if I find any more.

  • jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
    4 years ago

    You can use a bucket of soapy water and shake the JB's into the bucket CaWill ..

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I have Japanese beetles in a 30' tall Linden tree in the front yard, skeletonizing the leaves. They are skeletonizing a crabapple tree, and a cherry tree. They are mostly controlled on my roses for reasons described in my earlier posts above.

    I have so many beetles I finally deployed a beetle trap last evening as the sun went down. I put a bucket with some water below the trap to catch the ones that don't fall in the bag. It is about 20' from the Linden tree and probably 60 feet from the crabapple tree. The Linden can't be helped. The crabapple was free from any beetles over the noon hour. The cherry tree is about 20' away and has beetles in it. The closest rose bush is 50' away and had two open blooms filled with beetles when I was home over the noon hour, so I presume the trap was partially responsible for the numbers, but not the presence of beetles on that rose bush. My main rose beds start about 75' from the trap and there seemed to be reduced #s of beetles in my main rose. Graham Thomas had quite a few, but I think less than yesterday. This is based upon just one morning of experience. But it seems that if the trap is 75' or more away it may well help draw beetles away from plants I am trying to protect. I will have to give it more time to be sure.

    Any ideas how to dispose of the dead ones? I am in town and don't have chickens.

  • jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I put our dead JB's in a plastic bag then throw in trash...Not sure what burning them would be like...eeeeeee..But I have thought of that idea once...lol...Wonder if fish eat them?

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Jim1961, I have seen a youtube video about a guy that feeds the beetles to fish. It is something to consider. I put a 5-gallon pail with a few inches of water under the beetle trap, and get quite a few in it. I poured the first batch of beetles under a crabapple tree, which is a decorative tree in the parking. It's a bit less decorative now. I suppose I could drive the next bucket over to the river or backwater about a mile from the house and hope it doesn't spill on the way.

    I suspect burning them would be a little like cooking popcorn without the pleasant smells, anticipation, and taste.

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago

    Day 2 of beetle trapping: Similar to Day 1. No beetles on the crabapple about 60' away. Beetles on my Morden Blush 50' away protected by the Bayer shrub and tree protector, which cannot protect blooms against the extent of this invasion. In past years they would have also been chewing on the leaves on this bush but are not doing so, yet.


    Very few beetles on my main rose beds that start about 75' away. And most of those beetles are on the Molineux and Graham Thomas, yellow roses. A red rose and a pink rose have had a few but not many since I started trapping. I still have blooming roses, which I haven't had this time of year in 15-years. Even more amazing is that they continue to bloom in the 90+ degree heat.


  • FlwrGal
    4 years ago

    Been following this thread and just wanted to give a little update from my posts from July '18. Last year I netted all the most vulnerable plants that we could as soon as the first ones appeared. All the newly hatched beetles attacked the one sacrifice shrub we couldn't cover. We sprayed (Sevin) on the first day they arrived in masses and had a fairly good next few weeks.

    This summer we have a marked drop in the number of beetles. Sprayed the same shrub this year when they first emerged, but not in anywhere near the numbers from last year. The lower numbers may very well be due a unusually cool spring, however, I'm hopeful that leaving a sacrifice plant and killing them en masse may have helped.

    There are still a few happily covorting on an apple tree at the moment, but we try to avoid chemicals as much as we can, so for now we are leaving it alone.

    And here's another little interesting tidbit. I have 3 hibiscus plants on an open deck. I am daily finding a few on two of them. The third one has a hanging basket that sits about 15 inches above it and they haven't touched it. Because they start at the top and can't find it??? They really are a stupid creature.

  • Deborah MN zone 4
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    I have more JBs than usual, despite distributions of milky spore and beneficial nematodes.

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago

    An update on Japanese beetles. The roses I applied the Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect product with 12-month protection are mostly no longer protected from Japanese beetles. Some of the roses are not infested, but over half have at least 6 beetles in a rose bloom. The Bayer 3 in 1 product - same thing. I am in the 5th week of a product designed to protect 6 weeks. I read the label on the 3 in 1 tonight and it says if you have sandy soil which I do you may want to dose it again after 4- weeks, which I want to do.


    Still I do have many blooms which is better than I have had in past years. But some of the buds are being attacked now before they even open, as in past years. The situation is better but my initial optimism is flagging.


    I would say the 12 month product I applied in the 3rd week of April is a 12-week product and should be used in the third week of June in the Midwest.

  • bella rosa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    The JBs are in my yard as well on my Canadian Explorer roses of which I have 3. They chew the leaves so badly that they basically tear them to shreds. Very disheartening. I'm not a fan of spraying any chemicals, so for now, I've just been trapping them in soapy water. It's a joy to see them drowning in the soapy waters - heee...heee. I also plant a lot of plants that have a strong minty smell, which they don't like, for example, monarda, Russian sage, salvia, agastache and catmint. Thankfully, they don't like hydrangeas, daylilies, lilies and rudbeckias, either. Occasionally, I'll find a few, maybe one or two on the purple coneflowers. For me, that's the best way to handle the JBs. Plant more of the other stuff that they don't like.

  • jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Been lucky only seen 4 JB's so far...They all got a soapy bath surprise...

  • Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
    4 years ago

    Get outta here, are you kidding Jim. Wonder if that parasite they released is helping. Likely just a natural cycling. I remember saying to my self if my roses ever looked like Harryshoes that I’d quit growing roses. Well... my roses were covered in beetles yesterday. I’m still growing them.

  • jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    We do not have that many roses Patty (10) and most have unscented blooms...

    But suppose that will change when Campfire starts getting alot of blooms in the future...lol

    My mom lives 3 miles away from us...Has only 3 roses but gets tons of JB's... Scented roses...

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago

    I have scented roses that are covered in beetles. My Morden Blush, Hawkeye Belle, and Olympiad are covered in Japanese beetles. They are unscented. I am not sure scent is a factor.

  • jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Really not sure why we do not get many JB"s... ??? I figured maybe high scented roses attracted them? or maybe certain colors??? Colors here are 7 reds, one pink, on orange (salmon) and one multi colored rose... red/yellow...

    Only seen a few JB's on zinnas and roses here...

    No other flower or bush have I ever seen them on here...

    We have lavender hidcotes, Walkers Low catmint's, Rozanne Gerinum's, Potentilla 's, Coreopis plants, bloom struck hydrangeas , melampodium plants...Never seen a JB on any of the above plants here...

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago

    JBs go to the light colored roses first, like whites and yellows. But once their #s increase then they spread to most of the other roses, and then they start going to the leaves and rose buds. Also, they prefer taller roses. I am convinced my linden tree draws them in, plus I have 34 rose bushes in a small area.


    In the area behind my office where I have 5 rose bushes, it is surrounded by asphalt and buildings. I probably saw one-half dozen beetles in late June so I applied the Bayer 3-in-1 to make sure they didn't get a foothold and start laying eggs in that rose bed. I haven't seen any since.


    I noticed a linden tree about 1 ½ blocks away which is usually decimated by JBs, is clean this summer. They are just in my yard. I waited to put the beetle trap out after they started decimating my linden tree. With today's haul of beetles I probably trapped 5 lbs. of beetles in 10 days.

  • CaWill
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    This is my first experience with JB - I'm curious about the traps - how do they work and can anyone post a picture of one? Also VERY interesting about them liking light colored flowers best - since I have nothing but red roses they just decided to take what they can find here!

  • enchantedrosez5bma
    4 years ago

    CaWill, the traps have a synthetic pheromone to attract the males. The problem with the traps is that unless you can locate them far from your roses they tend to attract even more JBs to your yard. In addition if your neighbors have lawns the grubs will be in their lawn as well as yours even if you treat with milky spore.

    I've read that a cedar drench might help as a natural repellent but haven't tried this. I've tried peppermint spray but this didn't seem to deter the Chinese beetles that are now eating my roses. Luckily I haven't seen any JBs here but their dastardly "cousins" show up instead.

    It seems as soon as one pest is gone, another shows up to take its place!

    sharon

  • HalloBlondie (zone5a) Ontario, Canada
    4 years ago

    I'm commenting on the jb's and fragrance versus colour. I have just over 90 roses here & jbs. In my garden they will attack the most fragrant blooms first. I'm talking mostly the David Austin roses that are fragrant. They will be on those first. It does not matter the colour, there are just as many on Othello's (red/fuschia) blooms as Charlotte's (pale yellow). Whereas, my healthy but non fragrant roses may not have any. For example a Kordes rose Winter Sun, a large bloom yellow has none. I thought for sure this rose would be target because of the colour. Luckily for me they tend to arrive just after my big spring flush. I hate them, but I'm not going to stress about them, because it would ruin my love of roses. They also love many other plants in my yard as well, so there is not much I can do.

  • Embothrium
    4 years ago

    The FlwrGal hedge is a Cotoneaster such as C. lucidus, can be seen to have been flowering because there are fruits in the close up shot.

  • FlwrGal
    4 years ago

    Yes, of course. Just meant non flowering at the time of beetle attacks and spraying. Thanks for specific id.

  • CaWill
    4 years ago

    Sharon, thank you for the info on the JB traps - very interesting. Actually yesterday when my husband & I were taking our daily walk around our subdivision we noticed that our neighbor just two houses down the road actually had 4 traps in her yard. And they were almost all full of beetles. Today we noticed that one had been emptied. They seemed to be placed well away from her rose bushes & other plants they might like. I'm hoping that what few beetles I had on my roses have gone to her trap, as I have only spotted a very few the past couple days.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    Apparently raccoons will eat them!!! Here's a clever hack that Connie posted over at Hartwood Roses. : )) I imagine that one could use a gallon jug, as well.

    http://hartwoodroses.blogspot.com/2016/07/whos-tearing-up-beetle-trap-bags.html

  • Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
    4 years ago

    Yes the raccoons do love them. I feed my beetles to mama and babies every night, yummy!

  • mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    CaWill: This is the best you can hope for is that a neighbor sets out traps that attract them away from your floriculture.

    I was traveling today, and came across a home 70 miles away with a yard full of roses; front yard and back. Not much lawn to mow. So, I stopped as the owner was outside. He has no discernible JB damage. He uses a one gallon sprayer squirts Dawn dish soap in to make the water blue, and sometimes a little bit of Sevin, and sprays three times per day.

    My Bayer Shrub and Tree Protect was not entirely useless:


    But the Bayer products are not nearly as helpful if you have a pervasive infestation such as mine:.




    My conclusion is that Bayer soil drench is one tool in the bag, that can help when your JB issues are less extensive than mine.

    Upon arriving home I tried the Dawn dish soap spray, but instead of Sevin I had Malathion in my inventory. I actually used very little Malathion. While Malathion seemed to have lost its effectiveness on JBs when I sprayed it with my weekly fungicide spray, combined with the Dawn dish soap and sprayed it was very effective. The above JBs and many others chewing up my rose bed are deceased.

  • CaWill
    4 years ago

    Mark wow - you really do have a ton of those things! Each day when I check I only find maybe a couple of stems with 2-3 beetles on it. Also that link that Zaporvac posted about the raccoon is real cool - Those coons also like the sweet corn in our vegetable garden! All you guy/gals posting about the JB really know your stuff about them - I am a first-year novice with them so am trying to learn, although I do not have many plants to worry about, but I don't want them eaten on, either, as 3 of them are newly planted this year. I refuse to use chemicals as I have hosted bluebirds for about 11 years and do not want them eating bugs that might have poison in them or having the spray drift into my BB box, as happened the very first year I had baby bluebirds. I found all 5 dead in the box at once and believe my neighbor had done some spraying that drifted.