Jul 27, 2009

Pest Patrol

Japenese Bettles have been eating away at the only fresh veggies we are getting from our garden at the moment, our beans! It is amazing that something so small...

...can make such a mess!

The kids and I whiped up a batch of Japanese Beetle bait to trap and kill the bettles with out spraying them with all that yucky stuff! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 mashed banana

2 1/2 tsp. or 1 pkg yeast



Dissolve sugar and yeast in the water. Mix the well maxhed banana into the sugar water. Put all ingredients in a gallon milk jug. Place the jug (with the top off) in an area where Japanese Beetles gather. The fermentation and odor of the bait attracts the beetles which get in the jug but not out.



Here is James and Emmy giving it a good whirl!

One web site I was reading said to place the jug off the gorund a few inches, here's our jug, let's hope this works...

*****UPDATE*****

The bait in the jug was not working well and so we tried a bucket of soapy water and just knocked them into it. This seemed to work well if you go out once or twice and day to drown any little pests that may have arrived.

1 comment:

  1. It is so frustrating to have your hard work eaten! Heres to getting rid of the pests!! I found three more horn worms yesterday! We have a ton of marigolds planted with our tomatos as well... obviously not working for us!!

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