Raspberries, greenbeans and Japanese beetle. :(

[journey11]

I know I am at risk here for getting a rake thrown at me, for stating that I don't have JB's, but does anybody find that chickens help with the problem? Are the JB's in a part of the garden where chickens could pick them off themselves or would they just add more destruction to the problem? It seems there ought to be a way to use poultry to control them when they are such treats for them. I know most chickens don't range in the tree tops to get the JB's off the fruit trees, maybe guineas?

If the JB's are attracted to one plant or group of plants, what about planting a "trap" for them and turning the poultry loose on them? Might be worth planning for next year. Just throwing ideas out there, OK, you can throw the rake now.

I'd have to let a couple of chickens into my front yard and see what they think of my "Varigated JAPANESE BEETLE Berry Vine"... It's completely overtaken with them. I've not tried giving them to the chickens. I just drown them and forget about them until I notice they stink. The fact that they really love that vine is helpful though, because that is the first place they will go and give me time to get after them before they move onto my roses or beans.

I do toss the grubs to the chickens when I find them and they like those. So do the moles. If you have a ton of mole hills in your yard, you've got JBs or Junebugs (Cotinis nitida) or some other type of beetle grubs all over your yard. I find a lot of them in the mulch of the flowerbeds too. There is a grub killing product we have used in the past that you sprinkle over your yard (and I am wondering if it's ok to use on the flowerbeds too) and it kills the grub eggs before they even hatch. I'm not sure about the toxicity. We used it once after one year we had literally hundreds of the big, green Junebugs hovering and diving all over the front yard (and only the front yard, not the back for some reason). You couldn't walk to the car without being pelted multiple times! Weirdest thing I'd ever seen and it only happened that one year. The Junebugs in those numbers will really damage your fruit trees too.

The grubs will eat the roots of your grass and plants, but I don't notice much damage there. The moles do most of the damage going after them. I generally don't find as many grubs in the garden, but that's because the soil is disturbed or bare there and they don't favor those conditions. The adult Japanese Beetles come in from other places though and you have to hang the traps downwind of your property. The traps have pheromones and plant scents to draw them in. I will have to hang them down along the roadside to get to them before they reach my property.

 

[Carol Dee]

@journey11 Let us know if the chicken like the. I don't have chickens but son does, I may have to lease them! I know we have grubs, I dig them up all the time. But thankfully no moles!!!!

 

[so lucky]

My chickens love the JBs. In other years when I put traps out, I would freeze the JBs and feed them to the chickens all winter. This year, I just shake the branch in a little container of water, only about an inch of water. Then I leave it where the chickens find it when I let them out to roam every afternoon, and they bob for bugs.
Or if the container of water is not handy, I squeeze the little b&*^%$#@ with my fingers.

 

[baymule]

The product you treat for grubs is milky spore. Haven't used it, but it is organic, not a poison. Supposedly one treatment lasts for years as the spores infect the grubs and they die.

 

[Smart Red]

I've never seen so many JBs as this year. I'm putting out the traps next year!

ETA: Handpicking them is easier in the evening because they don't fly off for some reason.

As you might be able to discern, I have made a study of these pests since my property was first attacked my them.

1a.) Unless you have several acres I suggest you do NOT use traps next year(or ever). The traps will lure JBs from miles around and those that don't find the trap WILL find your flowers, trees, and veggies! If you feel traps are necessary, give them to neighbors that live about 0.5 - 1 mile away. Then you can be pretty sure they won't damage your plants.

1b.) A warning for those with raccoons nearby. The coons love JBs and will tear down your traps at night so you find many of the same beetles on your plants the next morning. Another tip: You can extend the traps with kitchen bags or those huge black plastic bags so you don't have to change them as often. Bad idea with those raccoons, though!
..... just don't ask how I know.

2.) Hand picking them IS easier in the evening as they are settling down for the night and early in the morning before the sun hits and warms them. Another great time is when it is windy. They expect the branches to move, so your moving them isn't as much of a threat. They tend to stay put. Also, I find they are easier to collect if I start at the bottom of the plant and work up. When I start at the top I seem to scare all the lower ones off.

3.) Also, JBs have the instinct to roll up and drop when attacked. Keeping the bowl under the beetles means you really don't have to touch them, just brush the leaves where they are eating/mating and let them fall. The warmer and sunnier the day, the more likely the beetles will fly off rather than drop.

4.) If you do have a trap plant, I'd suggest you leave a couple of JBs on the plant after you catch the rest. JBs send out a chemical signal -- "I have found safe food" -- that attracts others. If you clear all of them off, the beetles may migrate to other plants in search of food and safety.

5.) Milky Spore is the best product sold to fight Japanese Beetles. It is put down on the ground in a grid pattern. It is supposed to last for about 7 years killing the JB grubs with a deadly (to them) spore. The spore spreads out as a grub is infected until the whole area is full of Milky Spore. While it will kill other grubs (not adults) in the ground, it is not harmful to other insects or worms.

6.) There are also products -- like GRUB-X -- that are applied like fertilizer and will kill grubs feeding in the ground. It won't kill adult JBs or grubs after they stop eating in the spring before they morph into adults. It should greatly reduce your numbers for next year, but works best if neighbors apply it as well since beetles love to visit nearby gardens.

7.) While a bad infestation can decimate trees -- mine seem to like fruit trees in the orchard -- I have found the JBs never congregate on the Japanese pears or other Oriental fruit tree varieties. I suspect they have developed a natural immunity to Japanese Beetles. If I were a scientist, I'd be searching for whatever keeps the JBs off those trees in hopes of finding a repellent for the cursed insects.

8.) We have discussed blending what bugs you and applying it to plants. It is supposed to send a chemical signal of danger that keeps others of the same variety off your plants. I've never tried it with JBs. I might experiment with the blender on my Cottoneasters -- a JB favorite here -- to judge its effectiveness. But, again, if the Cottoneasters are not available the remaining JBs will find something else to eat. Grapes, roses, the hybiscus family.....

 

[Carol Dee]

@Smart Red thanks for the great information.

 

[Collector]

Wow Smart Red, Great info!

 

[journey11]

Wow, @Smart Red ...know your enemy, that's for sure! Thanks for the great info!

I shall have to find a non-gardening neighbor to be my fall-guy on the JB traps. I was thinking of putting mine on the brushy strip along the road that borders a community church. It's upwind from here, and hopefully all the coons would get run over on their way to the snack bar. LOL

I noticed that with them rolling off of the branches too. I just put the bucket beneath them and give the branch a quick little shake. The ones that are um...making out...with each other are easiest to catch since they're...preoccupied.

 

[Smart Red]

@journey11, putting the traps head high on a bush or tree should keep the raccoons out. Mine were all on ground posts.