Beetles this year

[shellbellc]

I'm in SE PA and we are having the worst year for beetles...we went out and finally got traps just to try and do something. There were even eating our Rhododenron's!! Is anyone else having the same issue?

 

[deejaydebi]

Nope but with all the rain we've got skeeters up the zingzang!

 

[catfish]

we have to tie the kids down at dusk here so the skeeters dont take em

 

[squeezy]

Trade you some drought for some of your rain Mom!

 

[bigarm's smokin]

Hey Michelle, we got HORNETS! BAD, the minute you go out the door, they are all around you. You think I might could use a shower??

Terry

 

[az_redneck]

With the monsoons here, the skeeters are coming! We also have to worry about the bees when swimming. They like to drink the pool water. Then we have the poisonous toad population living in our backyard. Will kill my dog if he eats one. He's alreay had about 10 of them in his mouth. He gets real stoned and we have to wash his mouth out and watch his breathing. Now we take him out with a muzzle and on a leash..

 

[mikeintn]

We usually get tons of japanese beetles in the summertime, but this year the population got cut way back by the late cold snap we had in spring. I'm not complaining one bit, either - first time our canna's have survived the summer.

BTW, get ready for a big stink when you take the full bags down and put up new ones. First time I did it, I tied up the bags to suffocate the beetles, and threw them in the garbage can in the garage. I came out the next morning to go to work, and stopped dead in my tracks in the garage and said "what the #$%^^ up and died in here??" Walked over to the garbage can, took the lid off, and about puked, it smelled so bad. Took three washings with bleach to cut the smell down in the can. I finally ended up putting the bag o' beetles in a plastic ziploc bag, putting that in an old plastic coffee can, and taping up the lid of the coffee can and throwing it in our outside garbage can. I don't know what causes decomposing japanese beetles to smell so badly, but DANG!! It's the worst thing I've ever smelled in my life.

 

[low&slow]

Hey Shellbellc,
I have a pretty good trick for getting rid of beetles.
My grandmother use to do this, and it works great.
Fill up a giant barrel with water and set it right under your front porch light (or back porch). By morning time that barrel will be filled to the top with drowning beetles. Try it, it works wonders.

 

[deejaydebi]

Maybe that's why I don't have beetle problems I have a plastic half barrel I collect rain water in the water the garden. I don't find any dead beetles though.

 

[hillbillysmoker]

I am in the eastern panhandle of WV and we have Japanese Beetles worse than we have ever had them. It's called spray it or lose it. They even attacked the silk and tassle on the sweet corn. I good thing about them is it forced me to spray my sweet corn often so it would pollinate. As a direct result of the spraying we just processed 150 ears of sweet corn and never found a bug or a worm on any of it.

 

[ammjr]

We're getting killed with Japanese beetles up here Rochester, NY. I put out 2 traps in my backyard and have to change both bags every 2 days - and that's stretching it. And man, MikeinTN is RIGHT - those little buggers stink to high hell when they rot.
- Anthony