Recycling the Death Jar



Japanese beetle

 I despise nothing more in the garden than the miserable creature,  Japanese beetle species Popillia japonica.  It is about 15 millimetres long and 10 millimetres wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head and was 
detected in New Jersey in 1916, having been introduced from Japan.

 I was feeling smug about my  rose gardens this year until just yesterday when I thought I saw one, then decided no, the body on that critter was not iridescent.  But that sighting raised my antennae to full alert status so last night on my patrol of the garden I looked carefully and crap, there was a Japper.  I cut it in half with my clippers and felt a great satisfaction.  We have had two days of hot humid weather and maybe that"s why they have arrived.  I did more internet research always hoping there may be a newly discovered cure but as of today, not so.  

One of the best sites for me was the University of MN extension where I learned these things feast on foilage of more than  300 species of  plants.  So much for other advice online to cultivate plants that the beetles avoid--we'd have to eradicate all our landscape and woods.  I also learned that this is the time of year they visit, last week of June or first part of July and so there was no need for my smugness.  They were merely awaiting their cue, as with everything else this year, they are a bit early.    http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/dg7664.html


Look carefully there is what will become my
first Japanese beetle death jar occupant this year

My day began early for this longest day of the year and one quick trip outside,  I knew it was time to bring out the Death Jar and invoke my killer, show no mercy persona.  

These beetles are laziest in the early morning hours so that's when I find it easiest to  swat them into the Death Jar.  Apparently they are late sleepers.  These pests are dominant only east of the Mississippi, so I did not encounter them in CA.  From my studies as an ARS (American Rose Society) certified consulting rosarian in CA and an advocate of not spraying pesticides that can be harmful to the rest of the environment, I adhere to a studied Integrated Pest Managment approach.   I do not spray  toxic insecticides because we have so many bees, birds, garden and tree frogs, toads, dragon flies and other Mother Natures good guys that I do not want to harm.  Besides I have long believed there l really is nothing to prevent nor cure the invasion of the Japanese beetles. 

My introduction to Japanese beetles was long ago, as a toddler in PA, I remember my grandma Rose would put a pail in her garden with water and kerosene into which she would drop the beetles, and which she sternly told me to not ever go near or I would catch on fire.  It was one warning I heeded because they were ugly and  stinky and since she did not like them I wanted nothing to do with them.  I remember her determination fighting these beetles by checking her roses and garden at least three times a day.  When she found them they went swimming in the pail.  If they fell to the ground she stomped them. Sometimes I'd spot  for her and race inside to "tell on the bugs"  she would come outside in a second and  catch them for the pail.   When the pail was as full of the uglies as she could tolerate, all contents, dead beetles and liquid were tossed onto Granpap's burn pile, I suppose the kerosene helped ignite the flames for their cremation.   

Oh no she has the Death Jar

Today nurseries sell Japanese beetle traps but my research shows they are not worthwhile.  The beetles have been  known to escape the trap (they don"t escape my Death Jar) and the scent of them attracts others.  Once they are in a neighborhood they spread and unless everyone attacks them and keeps after them, they have arrived.  One interesting tidbit about them is that it is not unusual for this pest to be abundant in one part of a town and not others, now that is just not "fair" to quote the occupant of our White House.   (Clue:  nothing is fair in life)  Just get over it!

Here are the first swimmers of this morning
Notice how they cling to each other
so they float together.

Here in  MN I find myself plagued with the   beetles.  Similar to my Grandma I I patrol my garden but I have a Death Jar (an old plastic Welch's Grape Jelly Jar that I save each year.  When I see a Japper, it's time for a swim.  Some say to  plop them into soapy water, but plain water is all I give them and sometimes a rose petal falls in with them.    Then I put the cap on the jar and let it sit in the sunshine, baking them one on top of the other.  I imagine their screams, "oh no she has returned with the Death Jar."  I would like to imagine that they would be so terrified that they would flee from my roses.  I would be merely hallucinating.   

Death oven baking

Better Homes and Gardens advice is: " The beetles release chemicals called pheromones into the air. These pheromones attract other beetles. So if you see a few of the bugs, they'll probably attract more. Get rid of Japanese beetles early, before they can invite more of their friends to feed on your plants."  So today was early detection and strike with a vengeance.  At last check not a beetle in sight, but there willl be no rest and I really fear leaving them next week when we  depart for our trip.  Last year my next door  neighbor called me, frantic, "Come see what bug I found on my flowers...."   I recognized it right away as a Japanese beetle and was surprised she did not know because she is a native of these parts.  She said she would get some spray but I told her there is nothing that works and that she should begin to harvest them and  showed her my  remedy but she was grossed out looking at  the Death Jar.  Later on she showed me the various sprays she'd wasted money on to no avail.  I warned her to save her $$ but she did not listen.  She has grandkids around and I find it potentially dangerous to have such spray poisons around children. 

The Gardens alive website offers various techniques, the most comical of which are 3, 4, 5.  I have added some comments to their advice below.   This is not rocket science nor gourmet cooking preparation.  

1. Hand picking can be very effective. Get around their ‘drop and roll’ defense by snagging them early in the morning when they’re slow and sluggish. Place a pan with some soapy water in the bottom below the infested area, reach for the beetles from above, so they can’t fly away, and they’ll drop right down into the water. (My comment who needs soap?)

2. Smother the beasts with a spray of good old insecticidal soap. Just be sure to spray the beetles, not the plants; soap sprays have to coat the bug to be effective.  (My comment,  right they hate a bath!)

3. Plug a vacuum cleaner (preferably a shop vac) into the nearest grounded outlet and hose the little nasties up like they was dust bunnies under a couch. (My comment, uh huh and to say nothing of vacuuming up leaves and petals too.  Oh I can just hear Jerry when I fetch the shop vacuum.)

4. Make beetle-repelling “bug juice” with your catch! Whiz a handful of the sucked-up beasts in an old garage-sale blender with a pint of water (this alone should make you feel much better!), strain the resulting slurry and spray it on your plants. Old time farmers swear that pests won’t go near plants that have been sprayed with the remains of their relatives. (My comment uh huh a blender for beetles...who"s  writing this Ima Gaarten?)

5. If you’re a wuss (or only have one blender), try making a more congenial repellent by whizzing up two cloves of garlic and a hot pepper in that pint of water instead of the pests. Strain, add a drop each of dishwashing soap and vegetable oil (or better still, insecticidal soap and horticultural oil), and spray it on the plants under attack early in the morning. (My comment,  we are not cooking  or manufacturing here and if this were so agriculture would have vat sized blenders to whiz up repel insects of all types...)

6. Or cut to the chase and soak plants under attack with one of those commercially available garlic sprays designed to deter mosquitoes; see last week’s Q (http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=572) for all the details. It should work even better than a home-made spray, AND the area will be free of biting bugs for a couple of weeks as a bonus!  (My comment, we live in  mosquito land, they are the national bird of MN.  Believe me garlic does not deter them)

7. If nothing less than an insecticide will suit you, make it a non-chemical, non-toxic one. The natural product Neem—derived from an Indian tree—should kill any beetles it hits and act as a ‘feeding deterrent’ to repel future attackers. (My comment  I have found Neem to be useless for everything else.  I suspect it is useful in making $$ profit for the sellers.  Better to do nothing and save your $$)

8. Birds DO eat Japanese beetles. So create a beetle buffet by placing birdbaths, feeders and nesting boxes near the plants under attack. And don’t chase away starlings! These so-called ‘pest’ birds feed on both the adults AND their grub-babies in your lawn!  (My comment, well we have and feed every bird known to the area including the gold finch nesting in a decorative by our front door.  I have never seen a bird after these bugs.)

One spray of the Kiss Me shrub rose

So I will continue my patrols, it keeps me busy but at least while we are home I can save some of the bushes from the gnawing of the beetles. 

Local deer have been so far successfully repelled by the Crop guard spay so Kiss Me, one  of Bambi's favorite snacks is blooming in glory this year.  Some sprays have 15 buds and blooms, I did get tired counting.  And the slight sweet scent is a reward to inhale/ 

But I did see that  another front hosta provided a munch for Bambi overnight.  Isn't it always something with nature's creatures?

Kiss Me Shrub in glorious bloom