North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[<dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

David,

Here's the link to the Cornell IPM website with some great info on your 
borer problem. 
http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheets/treefruit/pests/ab/ab.asp  It's 
important to time the life cycle stages with your control methods and 
Cornell has a great chart that is simple to follow.  I use Lorsban (Govern 
4E) in June and July and do a trunk spray about 12 inches above the soil and 
drench the trunk to the point of runoff.  The runoff penetrates the soil and 
gets those borers below top of soil.  We have over 12,000 trees now and it 
take us about 2 days to cover the more susceptible root stocks, M26 
especially.  The M26 burr knot is more sweet tasting to the borers and they 
attack those first in our orchard.  Hope this helps!

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
http://www.revivalhymn.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <David.Maxwell@dal.ca>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 9:03 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] Saperda candida aka Round headed apple tree borer


> "Whoops there goes another apple tree plant.."  Two more, actually, 
> victims of
> Saperda candida.  The one I knew about, as the borer holes were visible 
> and I had
> been attempting control.  The other was a few cm. below the soil surface, 
> though,
> and not visible.  (Both trees blew over, broken at the weakened trunk, in 
> the storm
> last week).
>
> My understanding is that this is a relatively new problem, although around 
> the early
> 1900's in New York it was suggested that Saperda could wipe out the entire 
> apple
> industry.  It then became nothing more than a minor pest, with the 
> introduction of
> regular sprays for other pests.  Now, with the growth of organic 
> agriculture it is
> making a come-back.  My own trees are largely "organic", (although it is 
> more by
> neglect than philosophy), and I am having ongoing problems with Saperda. 
> I have
> painted the trunks with a mix of latex paint and lime.  Where I can detect 
> the frass
> from Saperda activity I have been injecting insecticide directly into the 
> holes.  (But I
> have not been able find out what insecticide is the best one to use. 
> Older
> references specify endosulfan, but this has been removed from the market 
> in both
> Canada and the States.)  (This process of injecting insecticide directly 
> into the holes
> is my own invention - I am a physician, and have ready access to syringes 
> and
> needles.)  The advice to poke a wire into the holes is a complete waste of 
> time - the
> holes are frequently crooked, and the wire doesn't get up (or down) to 
> where the
> grub is.  Has anybody got any more ideas or experience in managing this 
> pest?
> The attacks below the soil surface are a particular problem, as I can't go 
> around
> uncovering the roots of 181 trees (used to be 183...) every few months, 
> looking for
> signs of attack.