Happiness is hunting for Japanese Beetles.....

jymarino 6/28/2011, 3:39 pm

and only finding 5 of them. All five are quite dead now. Hopefully they were the scouters and the others won't come around thinking there isn't anything to eat in this yard. It probably won't happen, but I can hope.

**Furbalsmom** 6/28/2011, 5:47 pm

Happiness is hunting for Japanese Beetles..... 641297

, but glad the five scouts are dead.

duhh 6/28/2011, 5:54 pm

lol! sounds like me and the squash bugs! I was excited to only find 3 adults yesterday and only 2 leaves with eggs on them!

Good luck!

jymarino 6/29/2011, 9:43 am

Found one more dead on my rose plant. Laughing

I know most SFGers don't like to use Sevin, but I have to say the stuff works! I sprayed it on my roses and most of the veggies, except lettuce and herbs, and we haven't had as bad of problems as we did last year. Of course this year the garden isn't as overgrown, there aren't as many weeds, etc. However, when I find a Japenese beetle dead in the middle of munching, I have to say that is pretty effective stuff. I do make sure to spray any insecticides, chemical or organic, in the evening after all the bees have gone to bed.

milaneyjane 6/29/2011, 4:33 pm

Last year my climbing roses were COVERED in those beasts. Because the garden is about 5 feet away I had to douse the roses. But I think a lot of bees died that way as well since they love the roses. This year I am hoping that I won't have to spray.

NHGardener 7/10/2011, 4:04 pm

This may not be realistic for most people, but guinea fowl are great Japanese beetle eaters. I've heard they will walk down your garden rows and zap all the Japanese beetles and leave everything else alone. I had to get rid of my guineas because they wander too far and they're noisy, the neighbors don't like them, but they are great pest control!

Aub 7/11/2011, 1:39 am

I fed a few Japanese Beetles to my chickens. Those little suckers are so hard that they shot straight out of Buffy's beak when she tried to eat them!

Tril 7/11/2011, 1:04 pm

The Japanese beetles have emerged here... had to go get two traps yesterday or I won't have anything left to harvest. While I was hanging the first one the beetles attacked. OMG, they were in my hair and crawling all over me!! Those bait on those things really works. The bags are filling fast. I put some diatomaceous earth in the bag... just cause I want them to die. LOL

I'm thinking I need to treat my yard this fall... to kill the grubs.

**camprn** 7/11/2011, 5:50 pm

Tril, did you place the trap away from the garden? I have plenty of beetles here, but no Japanese beetles yet.

**camprn** 7/11/2011, 5:53 pm

milaneyjane wrote:Last year my climbing roses were COVERED in those beasts. Because the garden is about 5 feet away I had to douse the roses. But I think a lot of bees died that way as well since they love the roses. This year I am hoping that I won't have to spray.

If I may suggest... if you have to spray, and you can do so after 6pm-ish, most bees will have gone back to the hive right about then.

Tril 7/11/2011, 7:22 pm

The directions on the traps said to hang them 3 to 5 feet up and 10 feet from what you want to protect. I did that for my SFGs. I also hung one in the front yard, to keep those beetles there, near that trap.

littlesapphire 7/28/2011, 9:05 pm

I'm really grateful that I haven't had much trouble with those little beasts this year. I found a few in my strawberry bed and on my pole beans, but I smacked them off and they don't seem to come back. Maybe I should have killed them, but tehy're so gross Razz

I've been using an insecticidal soap, so I don't know if that helps or not.

NHGardener 7/28/2011, 9:59 pm

I bump beetles off my plants every single day. They are making lace out of my green bean leaves... grrr. I get a big plastic Maxwell House container, put about an inch of water in it, and then use the plastic lid to knock the buggers into the water. They fall off the leaves really easily, and can't fly out of the water, they just float around in there until I have maybe 20-30 of them, and then I empty it into the chicken water bowl and they eat those things like I could eat Bon Bons if I let myself. Ha. And then I go to every other plant in the yard, like the berry bushes and grape vines, and get the beetles off there too, because I know those beetles will just head over to my green beans eventually. It just makes the chickens so happy I can't help but collect them whenever I have the chance... But my bean leaves still get shredded regularly.

Tril 7/29/2011, 7:13 am

Since I hung up two traps, I haven't had any damage to my garden! I have a LOT of beetles in the bags, too.

NHGardener 7/29/2011, 8:16 am

Tril - I'll have to look into those. Do you think the liquid is non-toxic?

jymarino 7/29/2011, 9:12 am

When and if I do use Sevin I do it in the evening hours. I don't want to harm the little bees.

Very Happy

Tril 7/29/2011, 7:17 pm

There isn't any liquid... there are two solid scent pads. And you keep the traps about 10 feet from your garden anyway.

NHGardener 7/29/2011, 8:59 pm

Huh. I was thinking I could use the bag system and collect a ton of them and then feed them to the chickens, unless the substance in the bag was toxic.

A scent pad. I wonder if that would make the beetles toxic or not... I'll have to research that.

Tril 7/30/2011, 8:08 am

They don't even touch the pads... they fly around them, try to land and drop into the bag. The first bag I tied up and threw away must have weighed over a pound. Seriously. These things catch them like crazy! The bag is hour-glassed shaped... so they drop in but can't fly out. The bag has drain holes so when it rains they don't turn into beetle soup. You can remove the bag, dump the beetles (for the chickens) and then replace the same bag on the trap. Best of both worlds for you... I just don't have anything to feed mine to so I have to buy new bags.

This is what mine looks like... only my bags are clear, which I like so I know when to change it. I don't mind seeing the beetles.

Happiness is hunting for Japanese Beetles..... Bagabu10

Happiness is hunting for Japanese Beetles..... Bagabu10

Google it and you'll find directions for making homemade traps, too.

NHGardener 7/30/2011, 8:21 am

How exciting! Thank you! Very Happy

I should've been doing this all along. Just wait until next year. Japanese beetles will be on the endangered species list...

AvaDGardner 4/9/2012, 10:50 pm

That's an amazing trap.

Could it be hung from the trellis? Or would that be too close?

I've been told they are incorrigible at the garden.

Ava

nycquilter 4/10/2012, 10:47 am

it gives me great pleasure to roam the yard, a cup of water with a dash of dish soap in one hand, a "knocker" in the other (usually a plastic spoon or fork), knocking them into the soap and sending them on to their next life...same with those danged gypsy moth caterpillars.

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