How to deal with the bark beetle on fruit trees

Growing fruit trees on the plot is not as simple as it may seem. Caring for a garden includes, among other things, protecting it from various pests, a huge number of which every year tries to attack trees, destroying both the crop and the plantings themselves. Many pests dream of living in our gardens, but one of the most dangerous pests is the bark beetle, which feeds on wood, but does not damage the fruit.The fight against the bark beetle is so important because it not only gnaws the branches, but causes the tree to die.

What is a bark beetle

This pest has several names. Not all of them correspond to its biological name, but most often different types bark beetle "Rake" in a heap, calling them: shashel, apple bark, plum bark, borer, sapwood and the like. All insects of this family have an incredibly developed sense of smell. An adult can smell the desired tree from a distance of a kilometer away.

Bark beetle

Before looking for suitable measures to combat bark beetles, it is worth knowing how the occupation of garden trees is going on. The female pest, falling on a tree (insects prefer weakened specimens), gnaws the bark, makes moves of various lengths, in each of which leaves eggs. At the same time, it introduces the spores of the fungus Monilia Candida, which are beginning to actively grow and multiply. The larvae, hatched in the completed moves, continue the work started by the parents and eat the wood further, expanding the moves. The bark beetle caterpillars feed on the tissues and sap of the tree.With an increase in the network of passages, there is an increasing damage to the vessels of the tree, as a result it weakens. Gradually, insects pass through the stages of larvae and pupae, turning into an adult beetle, remaining under the bark for the entire winter.

Interesting!

With the onset of spring, the beetles begin a period of mating, after which they leave their moves and move to neighboring trees. In one season, the development of one parent and several sister generations of the bark beetle. If the environment is favorable, the number of pests increases exponentially. This speed suggests that the fight against bark beetle should be started at the moment when the first specimens have already been found.

What harm do beetles to fruit trees

In total, scientists know more than 750 species of bark beetles. Of these, almost one hundred and fifty species live in Europe. They are smaller in size - up to a centimeter in length. Exotics can exceed 1.5 cm.

Bark beetle tracks

These insects cause damage to park and garden trees very seriously, so the fight against the bark beetle must be serious, complete, especially during the outbreaks of the population.

The damage caused by bark beetles to trees is very great.And the plants are damaged not only by the beetles themselves, but also by the fungus that the female brings. The larvae of beetles, damaging the channels of moisture and nutrients, weaken the plant, fungi, growing, destroy the tree.

In recent years, a typographer has been increasingly found in our country - a species of bark beetle, which has caused tremendous damage in most of the regions.

How to detect the presence of bark beetle

When planning measures to combat bark beetles, one should pay attention to some signs by which one can understand whether trees in the garden are infected or while preventive measures can be dispensed with.

• You should pay attention to the birds, inhabiting the garden. If the work of a woodpecker is often heard, the percentage of living in the fruit trees of the bark beetle is high. Fight him to start immediately.
• Need to inspect the trunk. If small round or oval holes are found in the bark, this indicates the presence of not only the beetles themselves, but also their offspring.
• If gum flows are visible on the stone rocks, it can be assumed that this happens from the holes made by the beetle. If you do not start the fight against bark beetle on fruit trees at this stage, you can lose the garden.
  

  Bark beetle tracks
• When viewed from a tree visible fine sawdust? If it is brown dust, then the bug has just begun its way into the thickness of the tree. If the sawdust is light, it means it is already nibbling wood. Very often, after the discovery of this sign, barbel will be seen on the seed.

Important!

In the last stage of the occupation leaves fall. At the same time, the crown dries out and weakens. At this point, a decisive blow to the bark beetle is necessary.

Ways of struggle and prevention

Having discovered the symptoms of a pest infestation, it is necessary to find out all ways of fighting the bark beetle in order to get rid of it as soon as possible. It is necessary to prepare for the fact that the struggle will be long, because the enemy must be completely destroyed, including the one that is still in the eggs. You can use both folk remedies and chemicals.

• To understand how to deal with the beetle bark beetle and whether this makes sense, it is necessary to assess the degree of defeat. If the tree looks healthy, a small number of holes are found in the bark, if it is difficult to pierce the bark with a knife, you can try to save the plant. If the crust easily leaves layers, if the moves are numerous, the disease is noticeable and the tree withers - the struggle is meaningless.The tree must be immediately cut down and immediately burned so that the larvae do not have time to turn into adult insects and fly to neighboring trees. After cutting the stumps uproot and burn too. Burning is preferably done off-site.
• If after the evaluation it was concluded that the tree can be saved, it is urgent to process it from bark beetles. First of all, it is necessary to purchase funds in the fight against bark beetles, used for injection. These are “Antizhuk”, “Calypso”, “Confidor”, “Anti-shelchelin”, “Empire-20” and the like. Using a syringe, the drugs are injected into the beetle's moves up to four times (after each time, you must wait until it is absorbed). After the procedure, the entrances are covered with garden pitch.
  
  

  Remedies for the bark beetle
• If the site is weak, sick trees. It is better to remove them too, since it is their bark beetles that are most often chosen for settlement.
• The treatment from bark beetle is especially effective in spring, after flowering. Spray crown and trunks, making a gap of 2 - 2, 5 weeks. Double processing.
• In the summer it is recommended to use traps. To do this, fresh cuts are placed around the perimeter of the garden. Attracted by the scent of wood, females will fly to lay eggs here.At the end of the summer all the cuts are collected and burned. This method is especially effective in combination with the spring treatment of fruit insecticide.
• Prevention can be called a barrier method: the trunk and thick branches are coated with a substance made of clay, humus. Instead of humus, you can use hydrated lime and manure.

On a note!

In addition to the use of methods of struggle, it is very important to heal the garden, to ensure that the trees are strong and healthy. Only good care and close attention will help get rid of the pest on fruit trees.

It is worth knowing that a bark beetle can also start in a wooden house. Fighting him in the house is also necessaryas in the case of trees, only in this case is something more at stake. The means for the struggle must be chosen so that as soon as possible to stop the destructive activity of the bark beetle.