Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A Real Nuisance...

  Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Halyomorpha halys 

Move Over, Bedbugs: Stink Bugs Have Landed

SABILLASVILLE, Md. — When they retreated from the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate troops passed by the area that is now Richard Masser’s orchards. If only the latest enemy — the brown marmorated stink bug — would follow suit.
Damage to crops from stink bugs in mid-Atlantic states has reached critical levels, a government report said.
Damage to fruit and vegetable crops from stink bugs in Middle Atlantic states has reached critical levels, according to a government report. That is in addition to the headaches the bugs are giving homeowners who cannot keep them out of their living rooms — especially the people who unwittingly step on them. When stink bugs are crushed or become irritated, they emit a pungent odor that is sometimes described as skunklike.
Suddenly, the bedbug has competition for pest of the year.
Farmers in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states are battling a pest whose appetite has left dry boreholes in everything from apples and grapes to tomatoes and soybeans. Stink bugs have made their mark on 20 percent of the apple crop at Mr. Masser’s Scenic View Orchards here. Other farmers report far worse damage.
“They’re taking money out of your pocket, just like a thief,” said Mr. Masser, flicking stink bugs off his shirt and baseball cap as he overlooked his 325 acres, a few miles south of the Pennsylvania border. “We need to stop them.”
No one seems to know how. Government and university researchers say they need more time to study the bug, which has been in the United States since about 1998. Native to Asia, it was first found in Allentown, Pa., and has no natural enemies here.
Some people noticed an increase in the stink bug population last year, but all agreed that this year’s swarm was out of control. Researchers say the bugs reproduced at a faster rate this year, but they are unsure why.
“These are the hot spots right now, but they’re spreading everywhere,” Mr. Masser said. “They even found them out in Oregon.”
Populations of the brown marmorated stink bug — different from the green stink bugs that are kept in check by natural predators here — have been found in 15 states, and specimens in 14 other states, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
The bug travels well, especially as it seeks warm homes before the onset of cold weather.
“It’s an incredible hitchhiker,” said Tracy Leskey, an entomologist with the Agriculture Department’s Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va. “The adults are moving and looking for places to spend the winter.”
The research station is among three laboratories looking for a solution. Government and university researchers also formed a working group this summer. But Kevin Hackett, national program leader for invasive insects for the Agriculture Department’s research arm, said no immediate solution was in sight.
“We need to do considerable more research to solve the problem,” he said. “We don’t even have a way to monitor the pests. I’m confident that we have excellent researchers. I’m not confident we’re going to find a solution immediately.”
The department is spending $800,000 this fiscal year on stink bug research, double last year’s budget, Mr. Hackett said. But he estimated that seven more full-time researchers were needed, at a cost of about $3.5 million a year for salaries and research expenses.
In Asia, a parasitic wasp helps control stink bug populations by attacking their eggs. Unleashing those wasps here, however, is at least several years away because they would first need to be quarantined and studied.
There has been limited success using black pyramid traps in orchards, Ms. Leskey said. The traps contain scents that trigger sexual arousal. The nymphs, or young bugs, respond seasonlong, Ms. Leskey wrote in a recent report, but adults respond only late in the season, in late August.
Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett, Republican of Maryland, convened a meeting last week of officials from the Agriculture Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. He is pushing to have the stink bug reclassified, which would allow farmers to use stronger pesticides, and is advocating that the Agriculture Department reallocate $3 million of its budget for research.
A problem that can arise when more pesticides are used, experts and farmers say, is that many years’ worth of effective “integrated pest management” can be ruined in the process. Farmers kill some pests but allow others to live because they prey on yet other pests. Wasps, for example, eat worms that otherwise would kill crops.
“It is a way to use nature’s own defenses against pests in orchards,” said Steve Jacobs, an urban entomologist at Pennsylvania State University. “That’s been finely tuned and works well. This brown marmorated stink bug blows all that out the window. You kill them today, new ones come tomorrow. So this is a serious problem.”
Meanwhile, homeowners in the region are coping with this latest nuisance.
Vicky Angell of Thurmont, Md., said she first noticed the stink bugs last year, but “not in flocks” like this summer. She kills about six a day and suspects that they get inside her home when she leaves the door open to let the dog out.
Ms. Angell said she flushes them down the toilet after catching them in a napkin. Other people use their vacuum. And many have turned to exterminators.
Stink bugs, whose backs resemble knights’ shields, do not bite humans and pose no known health hazards — even the fruit they have gotten to is edible, once the hardened parts are cut out. They leave small craters on the surface of an apple or pear, and the inside can get brown and corklike. Females can grow to nearly the size of a quarter. “Marmorated” refers to their marbled or streaked appearance.
Still, sometimes they are just too close for comfort. Ms. Angell said she got a surprise when she put on her pants Friday morning, having washed them and left them to dry in her laundry room.
She felt something in the right rear pocket.
“I thought I left a piece of paper in them when I washed them,” she said.
But it was not paper.
“Pulled it out. He was alive. Stink bug. Flushed him down the toilet,” she said. “I thought, I’m glad I didn’t sit on that.”
Kelli Wilson of Burkittsville, Md., said her home had been overrun by the bugs, especially in the past week. In the afternoon sun, the north-facing exterior of the house “is black with stink bugs,” she said. “It looks like the wall is crawling.”
Mrs. Wilson’s husband, Raymond, skipped services on Sunday at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Burkittsville to remove stink bugs from the house. Mrs. Wilson discovered a little hitchhiker as she and her children arrived at the church. “I just pulled into the parking lot and there’s one on my purse,” she said. “They travel with me now.”
Mr. Jacobs, the urban entomologist, said the response to stink bugs so far is not an overreaction. “I’m standing here in my living room watching some of them crawl up my walls,” he said. “The best thing to do is make your house as tight as possible. Use masking tape to seal around sliding glass doors, air-conditioners.”
Mr. Masser, the Sabillasville farmer, said that he had not yet raised his prices to offset losses, but added that it was a possibility next year if a solution to the stink bug invasion was not found.
“Stink bugs are going to destroy a lot of food — it’s just starting,” he said. “When Joe Blow starts hollering because he can’t find the food he wants, they’ll respond then.”
A version of this article appeared in print on September 27, 2010, on page A15 of the New York edition.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Oh Butterfly...

Oh butterfly..."You are my friend...thank you for being my friend.  I love you butterfly" - Chapin Henry Turkel

A Butterfly Lights Beside Us

A butterfly lights beside us, like a sunbeam...
and for a brief moment it's glory
and beauty belong to our world...
but then it flies on again, and although
we wish it could have stayed,
we are so thankful to have seen it at all.
Author Unknown

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Impromtu Camping...



Camping....Something Jon and I did in our prior lives very frequently.  There was such nostalgia breaking out the good ole Moss Tent.  This tent was one of my 1st major purchases in college.  I felt like it was a good choice seeing just how well this old friend has held up.  We have neglected her!   Keeping her locked up in a plastic bin for about 6 years under the stairs.  But she came out looking and smelling great...And very thankful for being outside again after so many years. 


So the story goes...It is supper time and we are eating pizza at 7pm.  Daddy says "lets camp tonight!"  Chapin says "yeah Daddy lets camp."  So the process rolls along.  Find the tent, find the sleeping bags, etc.  Jon decides to pull the mattresses from the bunk beds in the cottage.  Great idea...Very comfortable and fit perfectly in the tent.   Oh and as you can see in the pictures we didn't stray to far from the house.  First of all, we really didn't have the time and second of all, we were playing it safe if for some reason Chapin didn't take to it.    

Sleep was not that restful, but the excitement was plentiful.  Chapin had a hard time going to sleep because he was so darn excited.  The top of the Moss is all screen so gazing out to the evening sky was cool.  So down late he went and early to rise with the sun.  All worth it...Making us believe we need to do more of this camping thing for we do miss it.  Early bedtime for all tonight!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Progress...

It is funny to look at the pictures and not see much of a difference.  But in really life, trust me, the new side of the house looks amazing better.  Jon worked his tail off and we are thankful for his energy, skills and patience!  My favorite is the fancy, cool new metal roof over the bay window.  Very nice!  Now on to the inside of the mudroom...Filling in the old window space, framing the window and painting. 
After


Before

Monday, September 6, 2010

Back to School...


New Classroom...
He wanted to wear his construction hat to show off his construction skills..

His 2nd day...His face didn't really show it, but he had a blast.
Chapin started school on Sept 1st at Crums Church Little Sprouts.  He is in a new school this year, mostly due to location purposes.  There was concern with the transition, but he is much more open to change then I.  He didn't have a care in the world about moving preschools, which I was very happy to see him take that stance!  The class size is the same and he has a few friends from his Berryville playgroup that attend.  On Chapin's  second day he was picked to be the "leader" to head his cronies out to the playground.  He was very excited and proud with that. 

As far as being a Mom, I am trying not to get too wrapped up in the future (the worry, excitement, concern, etc.)  My mantra is "be present,"  but I do admit a bit of sadness came about thinking next year he will be in Kindergarten and gone for five days all day!  Yickes!  It is best that I don't think about that.  

Our little guy is growing up! 

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Back to life...

Back to life and the first major construction project in the last two years, since Jon as in graduate school.   I guess we forgot just how much energy goes into these crazy projects!  Slowly but surely, we are making our way to having the pond side of the frame house rebuilt, new window in the mudroom and the attic re-insulated and rebuilt.  Jon is the construction super with some added helpful hands on the weekends and evenings.  We estimated to have the project completed in a week.  We are now on week three...Such as life.  We are really trying to practice patience...All of us!


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