GIO I'm going to look into finding the red dye as well. Are you planning on water, clove oil, and the red dye? I'd much rather use that than the Sevin... Yes, I'll be using the red dye, water, clove oil and other containers with the dye and tayuya root powder, which I have. No Sevin. The only place I could find the dental disclosing tablets was online. Your dentist might have some tucked away in a cabinet somewhere -- I'm not sure how common their use is these days, though I think they're used to help children brush thoroughly! But check to be sure the dye is #28 red, since #40 red is used sometimes. Also, about the clove oil. One woman tried it when we were experimenting but apparently put it full-strength and *some* liquid Sevin in a plastic cup. She reported that the next morning the bottom of the cup had melted away! I read later that undiluted clove oil WILL melt plastic. I used styrofoam cups and probably a greater dilution of the clove oil with water and didn't have any problems at all. Good point about the yellow containers. I got excited about making it more effective without considering the consequences to the pollinators. However, is the red dye toxic to the pollinators? The red dye will be consumed only by the insects attracted to the lure it's mixed with, and that's ONLY cuke beetles, not the pollinators or other insects. The reason is that the chemical compound, cucurbitacin , is in the lure that attracts cucumber beetles. It exists in varying degrees in all cucurbits, but the beetles flock to some cucurbit plants in droves and less to others, quite likely because of the strength of the odor. OTOH, pollinators are attracted to the cucurbit flowers, mostly through the kind of light emitted by various colors and probably the nectar in them, and cucurbitacin is of no interest to them. (Thus my reluctance to use anything yellow as a container in hopes of attracting the cuke beetles -- that might indeed attract the pollinators, too.) I hope your garden won't be as infested with cuke beetles this summer as last year! The kind of cucurbits you planted may have been the lure for so many (I didn't check your list against the list in the link), so if you can avoid growing them again, maybe the beetles will be smaller in numbers and it won't be a losing battle to keep the numbers low enough that you can harvest most of what you plant. That's about all we can ask of nature! I have Crenshaw melons, tomatoes, and beans out in the garden right now and haven't seem any insects so far except for flea beetles. So when these pests show up (and I know they will) that's when I'll set out the baited traps. I'll report back occasionally on how well it's working. It would be great if you (and anybody else who tries it) could do that, too. Report success OR failure. People have a tendency to not think about insect problems until they show up in THEIR garden, so it's possible that some who aren't interested in killing every insect on their plants will look for a solution a bit later in the season. I've never had to deal with Japanese beetles, but a zapper over a koi or other pond sounds like a great way to get rid of them! Sounds like you have some fun projects to think about!

sorry i thought the kw were a hybrid, obviously i am wrong. as to the trap crop, i do NOT need a trap crop! the kw brought the jb TO the garden! well it seems that way because i seldom have jb problems in the garden. the 4 beans are all in the same area, it is not the soil. my garden is well established with rich soil. an explaination will help explain the differences in size. the old favorite variety (ofv) i grew for years was planted at the same time next to the kw. the ofv seeds are old (from 2000 or 2001) so germination was way behind the kw seeds which were new seed from johnny's this year. that ofv was just emerging from the soil when the kw had been up for 10-12 days and then the ofv grew slower than the kw. as to the 2 new polish varieties, they were planted 3 1/2 weeks later than those other 2. they came up ok, not slow like the ofv but quick like kw, but they are smaller due to a late start. this is why the kw are so much taller on the trellis, the other 3 are catching up, it is not the soil. and yes alfie, perhaps you are correct. maybe the jb are going to the kw because it is the highest of the 4 pole beans but maybe kw tastes better to them? at any rate, i noticed yesterday the damage is not progressing as fast as it had been. i will still compare how the kw produce and taste. i have lot of kw seeds left and if kw does ok despite this i'll grow it again. thanks for your help, tom

While I grow many bean species & varieties, I don't have Japanese beetles in my garden, so I haven't been able to evaluate varieties for resistance. Glancing at an APHIS map, it seems that my area of east-central Wisconsin is just west of their range... and since they are spreading, they will undoubtedly make their appearance soon. I'm not thrilled by the prospect. :-( Reading through the USDA data, it seems that traps for Japanese beetles were ineffective - they attracted more beetles than they killed. If the same holds true of trap crops, then planting a variety which is attractive to them (perhaps Kentucky Wonder?) may not be a good idea. The best treatment may be preventative: using milky spore on nearby grassy areas, to kill the larvae.

I have not used soap spray on Japanese beetles. Fortunatly they are not a big problem for me in the vegetable garden. However, they have ruined my roses, but with the roses Japanese beetles are a short term problem and the plants bounce back. I have seen beans reuined due to them. The now retired Dr. Bradshaw from Clemson University ran the heirloom vegetable garden at the State Botantical gardens. This garden is certified organic and he uses a soap spray applied in the heat of the day to the top of the beans directly on the beetles. The soap only kills beetles that it comes in contact with and provides no residual kill. As an added benifit he found during the time the soap was sprayed no deer tracks were found around the garden, so, they began a routine spray around the perimeter to deter deer. He uses Dawn but stated any brand of dishwashing soap could be used and dishwashing soap was much cheaper and maybe more effective than insecticidal soaps. The reason for spraying in the heat of the day is that during this time is when the beetles are feeding. In the evening and early morning the beetles are flying around looking for new areas and mates.The beetles also don't fly during wet weather. The soap will only kill the beetles it comes in contact with. He also did some experimenting and found some amazing results to deter the beetles. He used beetles caught in a trap pureed them in a blender strained the mixture to get rid of the soilds used this beetle juice puree to mix the soap with and sprayed the beetles feeding on the beans. The soap quickly killed the adults by suffocation and the bug juice work as a repellant to keep the newly arriving beetles away. I don't remember the soap to water ratio he used but I have used soap on squash bugs and I used about a 1/2 cup in a gallon of water in one of those hand pump sprayers. I found that the soap did burn the leaves on the squash so I used an eye dropper to target the soap on egg clusters and used the spray at the base of the plant, which didn't burn it,in the early morning or late evening or best after a rain when the squash bugs are active. It was very effective in killing the bugs but they have to be drenched in the liquid and it was easy to do with the wand of the sprayer. I made it a weekly routine to spraw around the base of all the vines especially at the root base and had my best a prettiest crop of heirloom pumpkins and winter squash ever last year. All insects breath through the skin and the soap clogs the pores suffocating the bugs. Mr Bradshaw never reported any burning of the leaves on the beans and it could be my concentration was too high. So try a test spot and only spray on the clusters of beetles and not the whole bean vine and see how it does. The only thing to lose is possible a few beetles. Rodger