I use the beneficial nematodes and milky spore. I say that the beetles were "bearable" in about 5 years. A number of years ago I tried spraying with an antitranspirant ( WiltPruf) to which I had added some Neem (that contains Azadirachtin) and another experiment when I added garlic to the WiltPruf. What I had hoped for in my experiment was that by coating the leaves with garlic juice (or Neem) in WiltPruf, the beetles when they landed on the coated leaves would have no reason to take a bite - their sense of touch would tell them that they landed on a plastic leaf and their sense of smell would tell them that it was a garlic leaf or a Neem leaf. Unfortunately, I do not have the facilities/time to set up controlled tests. I just have my observations that Japanese Beetles were not as much of a problem, for me, as they were before I tried the experimental sprays. The following is from the review: Title: Biology and Management of the Japanese Beetle Authors: Daniel A. Potter and David W. Held Authors affiliation: Department of Entomology, Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. Published in: Annu. Rev. Entomol., volumn 47, pages 175-205, (2002). "Plant-Derived Antifeedants Metzger and Grant applied extracts of 390 JB-resistant plant species to apple and peach leaves to test for protection from JB. Although a few extracts seemed somewhat repellent, the tests were not extensive enough to be conclusive (47). Feeding on sassafras was deterred by extracts of nonripe holly fruits (Ilex opaca), which contain high levels of saponins (91). Extracts of neem seeds (Azadirachta indica) containing the limonoid azadirachtin were strongly deterrent (108). Topical application of such extracts was toxic to JB larvae, causing death and severe deformity, or disrupting development to the adult stage (112). Although commercial formulations deterred feeding by JB in laboratory choice tests (68, 71), weekly applications of neem-based products did not adequately protect crabapple trees or roses exposed to high JB populations in the field (68). Similarly, microencapsulated pyrethrum derived from Tanacetum cinerariifolium did not reduce defoliation of field-grown Himalayan birches, nor did commercial extracts of garlic (Allium sativum), cayenne pepper (Capsicum anuum), or neem (195)."

Gee now I know what I should have done with the solo cup of beetles in their nice bubble bath after last evening's collection round! Maybe I can just empty the cup around the rose bush with the most blooms ready to open? Worth a try. Lisa

Here is some interesting information about Japanese Beetle control from Prof. Daniel A. Potter of the University of Kentucky Department of Agriculture. I have corresponded with this professor, after finding one of his earlier articles about Japanese Beetles on the web, and he has been kind enough to summarize some research results that will probably be published within the next year. I mentioned to Prof. Potter that I would forward his comments to Gardenweb.com. First, here is my summary: several different "conventional" and organic insecticides and repellents, which are advertised to reduce JB damage to plants, were tested by applying the products to linden tree foliage (one of JB's most favorite foods), "weathering" the treated foliage outdoors for varying time intervals of 1,3,7,14,19 days (to test durability of each product when exposed to the elements including rain), and then offering the treated and "weathered" foliage to JBs. Some of the more effective products, from longest to shortest lasting, were: 1. Synthetic pyrethroids (deltamethrin, bifenthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, permethrin, and cyfluthrin): all gave effective protection for more than 19 days. (I don't yet have the trade names in these products, or any information about the "inert" ingredients that are mixed with the pyrethroids.) 2. Sevin: protected for about 14 days 3. "Pyola" from Gardens Alive, natural (botanically derived) pyrethrins in a canola oil base, the most effective organic product: protected for about 5 days 4. "Neem-away" from Gardens Alive, neem oil product, protected for about 2 days During the protected time span, JBs will not feed (or will not survive an attempt to feed) even when put right next to the "target" foliage. If, as other research suggests, JBs tend to follow a "feeding trail" marked by the pheromone scent of other JBs, it may be that JBs will not return in force to a protected plant (or garden) for some period of time even after the repellent wears off. Such an after-effect was not tested in the study. Here now is the complete letter from Prof. Potter: ############################################################ Last summer one of my students evaluated a number of "organic" insecticides, as well as known or putative feeding deterrents for repellence or direct control of adult Japanese beetles on linden foliage. We sprayed individual intact linden shoots, allowed the residues to weather outdoors for varying 1, 3, 7, 14, or 19 d, and then harvested those shoots and challenged them in "no-choice tests" with 10 beetles confined with a treated or untreated leaf, or in "choice tests" wherein 10 beetles are offered a treated versus untreated leaf in an arena. We tested five synthetic pyrethroids (active ingredients were deltamethrin, bifenthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, permethrin, cyfluthrin) and all of them gave at least 19 days residual control from a single application, despite frequent and heavy rains. Sevin gave about 2 wks protection (longer than I would have thought), but did not last as long as the pyrethoids. Among the "homeowner-oriented organic products", the most effective were "Pyola" and "Neem-Away", both from Gardens Alive. Pyola is a combo of natural pyrethrins plus canola oil; it was effective out to 3 days, but not to 7 days post-spray. Pyola also was relatively rain-fast once the residues had dried. Pyola served as a feeding deterrent, and also gave rapid knockdown, although most of the exposed beetles eventually recovered in these lab assays. I think they would dessicate and perish in the field. One day old residues of Neem-Away were highly deterrent and gave good protection, but the effect noticeably was wearing off by 3 days, and the product seemed less rain-fast than Pyola. Surround is a kaolin clay based emulsion that is sprayed on plant material to deter insects. It essentially whitewashes the plant material with a fine film of inert white clay. In our trials, surprisingly it did not deter the beetles from eating the linden foliage. Regardless, I don't think that Surround is well suited to use on roses or other flowering ornamentals because the white coating affects aesthetics. But it does have promise for fruit protection, where the clay residues can be washed from the fruit after harvest. We are also looking at Surround as a borer treatment (i.e., whitewashing tree trunks). Keep in mind that these were one set of experiments on one plant species (linden), so results might differ on other plants. For example, we did not apply them to open rose blooms. But from what we saw, either Pyola or Neem-Away should give short-term residual protection and be effective if re-applied as-needed (every few days) during the period when Japanese beetles are abundant. Of course, neither will protect rose blooms that break bud and open "in between" sprays. Several of the "natural" plant extract-based products that we tested (and that claim efficacy against Japanese beetles) caused severe phytotoxicity (burned the leaves), so growers would be well advised to test such products on one or two plants before treating a whole garden. As I am 100% Research and Teaching, I regret that I'm unable to answer all requests from the many individual gardeners who find me on the Web or telephone. We will be publishing this work in both scientific and popular articles, but probably not until sometime later in 2005. Also, we may be doing additional testing on roses. Feel free to follow up later on. Incidentally, there is a good Fact Sheet on Japanese beetle management that can be downloaded for free from the University of Kentucky Department of Entomology website. Hope that helps. Regards, Dan Potter ############################################################

Update from the OP: The traps have kept the beetles occupied enough that I haven't had to spray anything else. I do see a few about, but most are ending up in the traps. I have five out now and it appears the infestation is slowing a bit as it takes two days to fill any of them. We're still talking thousands of bugs here....the shake them into a bucket idea sounds great for a much, much smaller problem and I do appreciate the information. I'm in zone 5 or 6 depending on which map you use. I have one bag of the milky spore and will probably have to buy a couple more to cover my place reasonably. I'm waiting for the weather to turn and give us some rain since where I need to spread it is pretty far from my water. I've read at least one thread somewhere that claimed just using the traps could greatly diminish the population over a few years, so I'll probably continue to trap as well as hope the MS works. Other than that, I don't see other controls out there, except for sprays I'd rather not use extensively. Chuck