Japanese Beetle Trap Hack

I've been using this hack for the last two years and have had great results.

What makes a Japanese Beetle trap better than using an insecticide?  The trap uses a sexual attractant rather than a chemical which is bad for the environment and bad for you, too.

Also, there is the argument that by using an attractant you will lure beetles from other yards into your yard.  My thought on this is that all Japanese Beetles are bad and as long as they go into the trap (and they will) who cares whence they came.

A Japanese beetles lives between 30 to 45 days.  Females feed, mate, and lay between 1 and 5 eggs.  Then they repeat this process every 24 to 48 hours until their life span is completed.  So you can see that if you do nothing the beetles will multiply exponentially.

I was late putting out traps the first year.  The second year I put the traps out as soon as I saw a few beetles.  But this year I am putting out the traps before I see any beetles.

The University of Minnesota Extension

According to the above chart I better get my traps ready pronto.  We usually start seeing them around July 4th but I want to trap as many as possible so I need to be ready.

Japanese Beetles defoliate trees when they are beetles and eat the roots of your grass when they are in the grub phase.  So they are doing damage even when you can't see them.

How do I know if I am actually decreasing the population of Japanese Beetles in my yard?  First of all, whenever I dig in the soil I look for grubs.  Every shovel full of soil revealed multiple grubs when we first purchased this house.  I now maybe find only 1 or 2 grubs every year when I dig.

Also, I have noticed less Japanese Beetles on my roses and fruit trees.  Defoliating a tree or bush stresses it.  It doesn't kill it outright but repeated defoliation can eventually kill part or all of a tree or bush.  

The first year I put out traps I would gather at least 1 gallon of Japanese Beetles per trap every week and I had out 3 traps.  I trapped for 4 to 5 weeks.  That's a lot of beetles.

The second year I put out 2 traps and collected 1/2 gallon in each milk jug every week.  So you can that the number of beetles has dropped.

On to the trap itself.  I use the Spectracide Japanese Beetle trap.

I replace the bottom portion of the bag with an empty plastic milk or fruit drink jug.  See how the bag narrows and then flares out again.  I make my cut about 2 inches beneath the narrow portion of the bag.  You keep the top portion of the bag but attach a gallon milk jug using a twist tie.  Tie beneath the threaded part of the milk jug because this will help to keep the milk jug attached to the plastic bag.

Add your attractant after you have the milk jug attached because it works so fast that beetles will be dive bombing you to get to the attractant.  The attractant smells good, kind of like cloves.  When you buy your bags make sure to get an extra attractant for every trap you put out.  The kit comes with one but I find that they only last about a month.

Next, I attach the trap to a tomato cage.  Why use a cage?  It keeps the trap from blowing around in windy weather, it helps when you need to mow because it can easily be moved, and you can move it if you think it isn't seeing enough beetle action.

That round disc on the yellow portion is the attractant.

I remove my milk jugs the night before trash pick up day.  I save the milk jug cap so all I do is remove the twist tie, put on the cap, say ewwwwwwwwwwww, and then throw it in the trash.  Why not use the bag and dispose of the bag.  First off, that would require buying new bags that are smaller than a milk jug.  I have seen beetles crawl out of a filled bag before. With a bag, they can crawl out of if the bag gets ripped in the trash truck.   Ewwwww

Look at how many are in this plastic jug!!!

With this method you will only buy the attractant every year.  FYI look for the attractant at the end of summer when it goes on sale.  The attractant is sealed and will last as long as you do not open it.

FYI this method does not work with the traps that have a ziploc bag.  I found those to be the least effective in keeping the beetles in and not touching you when changing the bag.  AND again if you use this type you will need to buy more bags. 

How does the trap work?  If you have ever watched a Japanese Beetle then you know that they are not the most graceful of flyers.  The beetle smells the attractant and flies towards the sexy odor.  They fly right into the yellow plastic, they drop down into the container, and then they can't fly back out. 

You will need to change your plastic jug if it starts to smell from decomposing beetles.  That odor will over ride the attractant and they will not be drawn to the trap.

Where do I place the trap?  Place it away from the trees and bushes that they like to eat the leaves.  I sometimes move my traps around if I find beetles in an area where I do not have traps.  You will soon know where the hot spots are in your yard.

I remove my traps once the beetles disappear, which in our area tends to be mid August.

I hope that this helps you to rid your yard of the Japanese Beetle.  This insect shouldn't be here.  It is not indigenous to the U.S. and by trapping you are helping to keep the Japanese Beetle from destroying fruit trees.  There are at least 300 species of plants that are a host for the Japanese Beetle.

Happy Trapping

EWWWWWWW

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Our Paw Paw Tree has Flowers

....and flowers mean that there is a possibility of fruit.  

We are shocked because this is just year 3 since we planted the two paw paw trees.  Last spring and this spring we actually thought that they had died or were in the process of dying.  We will need to remember that they are late blooming trees.

One of the trees has 9 blossoms and the other has 17.  All the paw paw literature says that you need at least 2 trees for cross pollination.  Unless these flowers get pollinated there will be no fruit.   

They are great looking flowers, aren't they??  Can you imagine a 20 foot tree covered with these blossoms?  

I doubt that we will have any paw paw fruit last on the branch until it is ripe.  The fruit is quite large and heavy and the current state of the tree branches is more twiggy than branchy.

The blueberry bushes are blossoming, too.  The flowers are not as striking or showy, as the paw paw blossoms, but I know that these branches can handle the weight of the blueberries.

This is a Jelly Bean variety of blueberries.  It's a small compact blueberry bush with full size fruit. It is also a prolific fruit bearer and the perfect size for use in the landscape.

The only danger of fruit not lasting until harvest is from finger blight.  That is where you pick off and eat all the fruit, one berry at a time, before you have a chance to harvest.

Sometimes R and I walk around the yard during the summer and graze.  Then when lunchtime rolls around neither one of us are hungry.  Win win for me.

R loves when fall rolls around and he can sample the apple trees every day.  He found out that eating 3 apples in one day has an unpleasant effect.  I reminded him that the saying is....an apple a day, keeps the doctor away NOT three apples.

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Fruit trees and excuses

On Sunday, our intention was to plant our newest fruit trees. Last fall I ordered 2 nectarine trees and a Asian pear tree called 20th Century. Both of us worked Sunday (me 4pm to 4am and Roger worked the night before from 10:30pm to 7am) so I needed to leave early for my hour drive and he needed to get to bed. So unfortunately only the Asian pear was planted. The plan is to plant the other two tomorrow because there is a chance of rain and that would work out perfect.

The fruit tree total is now 17 . We have 4 varieties of apples, 2 peach, 2 apricot, 3 plum, 4 pear, and 2 nectarine trees. This spring I would like to also get a peach tree with white flesh. In the fall we will plant 6 cherry trees. Roger like sweet cherries and I would prefer tart cherries for pies and a Rainier cherry tree.

Our son Gavin and his significant other, the lovely Barbara Jean, came over early Sunday and dug up some of the bazillion day lilies in the side yard. Barbara received some great news this week..........she passed the bar exam!!!!!! Yea!!!!! She can now make a wicked Martini....oh wait wrong bar. She is now a card carrying lawyer. I just had to work that into my post...sorry....but we are very proud of both Barbara and Gavin.

Well back to the house.........where was I???? Oh OK I remember....another reason we didn't get the fruit trees planted was that I started digging around in the area where the fountain will go. It appears that there was a patio behind the raised area. We have to decide whether we want to remove that or repair it. I would prefer to repair since I have an abundance of wrought iron furniture. That's a whole post in itself. I'll have to wait until the leaves come out on the trees and see just how shady that area will be before we make a decision. Plus I'll need to do a little more excavating to see how large the patio used to be. Below is a photo of the fountain area.

The patio area is behind the raised area and to the right of the day lilies. Before excavation it was covered in a huge mound of dirt. I would really like to know what it looked like originally. Maybe we will get lucky and someone who knows about the home will walk up our driveway and fill us in. So far our all our information has come from Gary our neighbor and that only goes back about 16 years or so.

In the meantime I would just like to level the dirt and plant some grass seed. Our neighbors would probably like that as well. That would improve their view immensely.

But no leveling tomorrow. Tomorrow is fruit tree planting and climbing rose bush trimming day. Then off to work. So much to do and so little time.