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15_the_circle) wrote2008-05-01 08:44 am
aerial application
[OT from cottage renovations]
our invasive species problems aren't limited to the likes of English ivy, garlic mustard, honeysuckle and wisteria. once again the Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) population is on the increase and the State and the Town are intervening to protect our trees from this threat.
(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)
East Woods
this morning a helicopter chartered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture passed over the East Woods and part of the town, applying Bacillus thuringiensis. a second application on behalf of the Town will follow in a week's time.
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they come through just a few inches over the treetops, making a tremendous racket in an Apocalypse Now sort of way, but are often difficult to spot through the tree canopy they have come to protect.
| [edit: | it turns out that not all Gypsy Moths are harmful: one variety is known to be beneficial though their numbers have been in decline due in part to habitat loss though primarily to predation from the starboard.] |
helicopters
I spent an afternoon googling Bt last year. Supposedly Bt is harmless to honeybees unless you nearly drown them in it. They've even used honeybees as a vector to carry it to sunflowers vulnerable to caterpillar damage. The bees thrived.
Still, you gotta figure it's killing a lot of moth and butterfly larvae that just happen to be in the vulnerable stage right now. If I had garden plants I knew were hosts for butterfly or moth larva, I'd cover them.
no subject
so you didn't feel it necessary to cover the hives?
Bt