Nature was nasty to me this weekend too! I was trying to move Moondance from where I had temporarily parked it under a dogwood tree, and found out too late a nest of ground dwelling bees had taken up residence under it! Spent the weekend recovering from over 9 stings, multiple stings on hands, thigh (Must have gone up my pants leg) top of foot, and cheek. No breathing problems thank goodness but spent the weekend on anti-histimine and trying to distract myself from the itching. WOre my loose nightgown all weekend because even clothes made the itching worse. I think the reaction is all gone today but if any bug comes at me I may have hysterics...this is my 9th bee sting episode this year and one of the others was the same type of ground bees in another location. Moondance has yet to be moved.

with a heavy rubber band, a long tinker toy stick and a little practice, you can zap most larger bugs without doing much damage to the leaves. I use monofilament fishing line to force the end of the rubber band into the slot on the end of the stick, then use the same line to wrap around the stick to hold the rubber band secure. You point the end of the stick at the bug, pull back the rubber band and let it go. takes a little practice to know how far away to hold the end of the stick, so just the end of the band hits the bug and not the leaf or stalk it's sitting on. works better for wasps because they usually arent on a plant you care about. You'll probably never get as good as the average frog, however.

I suspect they are Bagworms and not mites. There has been a large infestation here in the midwest this year. I don't like to use chemicals and usually pick them off. No way this year as there are to many. Spray in the evening and use spreader sticker. If 1 survives and hangs on the tree till next season it becomes your next years crop of these critters. The cocoon or bag is home for the babies till next June. Make sure you get them all. If all foliage is gone and limbs are dead so is your conifer. These critters are an every year occurance. Google Bagworms for more info. Dave

Most likely these are Eastern Tentworm Caterpillars although they could also be cousins called the Fall Webworm. It was not necessary to cut off the branches which probably did as much harm to the tree as those caterpillars, maybe more. Although the webs look really bad once the caterpillars pupate the tree will leaf out again and go about its business. Control of these buggers can be quite simple if started very early in their lives with sprays of Bacillus thuringiensis - Kurstaki. That disease pathogen is not effective after those larva are over about 3 weeks old. Neem Oil sprays could be effective in later life stages. Most often the owners of trees afflicted with these wee buggers do more damage to the trees than do the larva, but prevention is even more effective. The Tentworm moth lays the eggs that hatch into the caterpillars in the fall and that egg mass can be found, typically, from 9 to 18 inches in from a branch tip and looks like a foam band around that branch. If any are found they can be pruned off. The Fall webworm female moth cannot fly and needs to climb the tree to meet the male who can fly, so a band of some sticky suff around affected trees, placed before the female matures, will keep those webworms out of your trees.