Pest control for fruit trees that wont hurt honey bees?

[yotetrapper23]

I notice my apples on my only young tree that has fruit have small holes in them. Like maybe little worms? But my DH has two hives of honey bees here in the yard. I bought spray for the trees, but there was a warning on the back of the jar about it being fatal to honey bees.

Is there anyway to save my fruit crop from insects without killing my husbands bees?

 

[me&thegals]

Do you know the name of the pest? It might help in figuring out to deal with it. Here's a recipe I used to use for attracting pests. Not sure how it will work for you... It's for Japanese beetles, but I've used the same thing for other bugs.

Also, we found disease-resistant trees that don't need spraying from Miller's Nursery at www.millernurseries.com. The varities are called Freedom, Liberty, MacFree and Jonafree. Otherwise, it seems too hard to get a good organic crop.

*To make a Japanese beetle trap you'll need a gallon-size plastic jug, 1 quart of water, cup of sugar, 1 cup of mashed ripe fruit, 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast, a utility knife, a long-handled strainer or large slotted spoon, and a piece of rope or twine for hanging.

Procedure

Begin by rinsing out the plastic jug, and carefully cut a large opening in the top, but leave the handle intact. Next, combine the water, sugar, and mashed fruit and yeast, and mix them together thoroughly. Hang the trap from the limb of a tree about three feet off the ground, or hang it from a hook intended for a hanging flower basket. Before long you'll notice Japanese beetles floating in the liquid, but they won't be able to escape and will eventually drown.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

me&thegirls

Do you think that method would work for other bugs?


yotetrapper23

Up till now I have used a liquid I make by soaking lots of elder leaves & nettles (50% of each) in boiling water, leave overnight (at least) to cool, then strained through an old pair of tights, I add a small drop or two of washing up liquid so that when I spray it on it sticks to the leaves. It works well on vegetables etc too. :happy_flower

I think now I might add an aspirin to the mixture as that might boost an ailing plant/tree!


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Rosalind]

Little holes are probably some sort of worm or grub. I'm guessing maybe plum curculio? They are pretty common and seem to eat everydarnthing, including apples, acorns, etc. They leave a crescent-shaped hole. Don't know if Japanese beetle traps work for them--in fact, I can't think of anything off the top of my head that works for curculios, other than using chickens to clean up dropped infected fruit.

If there are little mushy spots, it's probably apple maggots that can be trapped with sticky red ball traps. Codling moths also will stick to the traps, but they leave a big obvious hole.

My book says, spray kaolin clay on the fruit--it makes a whitish coating that you can rinse off at harvest. Never tried it myself though.

 

[me&thegals]

Hattie--Honestly, it has been so long since I used it that I can't remember what it trapped. Not Japanese beetles, though, since we didn't have them back then. I'm going to try it this year in my raspberries and rhubarb, which get a vicious Japanese beetle infestation yearly now.

I'd love to try your nettle-elder leaf concoction! What exactly do you use it on? Would it repel the cabbage moths and stinkbugs and cucumber beetles I do war with every year? Spraying sounds easier than hunting and squishing

 

[Hattie the Hen]

me&thegals

It works really well on black-fly& greenfly & fairly well on white-fly if you spray as soon as you see them. It doesn't work on flee-beetle.......! I have never had cucumber beetle or the Japanese one. When you talk about cabbage moth are those the same as our Cabbage White Butterflies (the dreaded bright green caterpillars that eat the leaves) if so the answer is NO...!! I pick those off -- Ugh!!!! You certainly have more 'nasties' than we have over here.

Because I use a lot of floating fleece & grow in manageable small raised beds its very easy for me to keep a lot of things at bay. I'm only aiming to feed myself & supplement the diet of my chickens, It's a completely different operation for a lot of you with your huge plots of veggies & I don't feel qualified to comment on them. I just read about your 'plagues' open mouthed in horror. You have all my admiration.

As well as the recipe I gave I often combine it with manure tea -- working on the principal of an attacked & ailing plant needs something to support it in it's recovery (a bit like us needing chicken soup as well as medicine when we have a bad cold).

SORRY I can't be more helpful -- I'm afraid it's back to the SQUISHING............


:rose Hattie :rose