Hey All, Well, so far, no good. I had put about 5 in each because it seems the JBs like to cluster when attacking. I figured they'd smell the ones in the traps and try to get to them. They caught maybe 2 each in the past 16 hours. It's possible my infestation rate isn't high enough. I noticed beetles buzzing around above the traps but none fell in. Today, I'm gonna rig up a wire frame above them for the beetles to run into and get knocked into the funnel. Hey steel, These don't have the pheromone in them, just a few beetles I caught to attract others that are close. Hey sudzy, Sorry, I'm the worlds worst record keeper. I buy a packet and plant it without bothering to record the variety. I really need to get better at that aspect of gardening. Hey Frank, I'm in Lodi, just north of Madison. This is my second year with the little devils. It's also my second year with Colorado Potato Beetles. Seems that the CPBs also like the bittersweet nightshade that grows in the woods behind my house so they're here for good.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Nat--The beetle is the size and shape of a Japanese beetle, but not shiny and is two shades of brown and yes, they eat the flowers and leave spots with no color. Chris--I got a single fan of Last Snowflake in August of 09. The next year I had 8 blooms and then the next year I thought it had died. It reappeared, but didn't bloom. I think I had 3 blooms last year and 7 this year. It's still a single fan. Maybe if I'd had a double fan it would've done better, but I don't know. Anyway it's been very disappointing here. It is gorgeous though.

rhizo: We are talking about 5 years ago when I was desperately trying to get rid of them. From what I remember I used numerous different products, more organic products than anything, but also chemicals that were not organic. I remember I even used a a spray that is suppose to be powerful enough to kill hornets (don't remember the name now). But nothing worked-killed on contact but they still kept coming day after day. I tried to only use the chemicals on the sunflowers rather than my vegetables because I was afraid I would poison us if I did. I had over $400 worth of Garden Alive organic products that I tried, Bulls-Eye I remember, and other insect killing products that I had gotten from Garden Alive--just can't remember all their names now-would recognize the names if I saw them. I also tried DE I remember. Sorry I can't remember everything--it was so long ago. As far as ants go, we can control local ants very well, it is the fire ants that keep giving us fits. My husband has spent lots of money on products that say it is for fire ants, but nothing seems to work. I have read up on everything I could about fire ants, things like you should put the poison granular on the mounds in the early AM because this is when the queen comes to the top--because it is cooler then--that she will go deep in the mound when it gets hot. My husband even pours boiling water on the mounds, but all that does is just make the fire ants that is left make another mound somewhere else. All the surrounding farms around here have fire ants, so even if you could get rid of the ones you have, you are just going to get your neighbors too. Everyone in the neighborhood has to get rid of their fire ants or they just keep migrating to each others farms. We even do things like run over the mounds with our cars every time we see one when we come home or leave the house, and my husband runs over them with the tractor whenever he cuts the grass. They even got into my gardening shed and ate a hole through the large sack of my potting soil and then proceeded to make a mound out of the potting soil! If you know of something that works, please let me know because we are about to have to sell our land just to get away from the fire ants! Thanks, Sheila

Courtney, Thanks for saying I am a wonderful teacher. Sometimes I really, really struggle with the best way to make a point without coming across as an overbearing organic wacko. (smiling and poking fun at self as I say that) The post in which I told you that chemical companies fund the very research that says their products are "most effective" was one of those times. I could tell you had really done your research and understood WHAT you read, but just wondered if you had thought about who was paying for that research? In many ways, the research system in this great nation of ours is evil....and not just with regards to the gardening world....how about in the pharmaceutical world as well? There is such a complicated financial relationship between the companies who MAKE/MARKET the products and the very researchers/agencies who evaluate their safety and effectiveness. I find it impossible to imagine university researchers and regulatory agencies are not influenced by the large multinational firms who market these products AND fund the research that studies these companies' own products. There is a superb book out that studies the complicated relationships that exist in the agricultural/horticultural world. It is called THE WAR ON BUGS and was written by Will Allen. It basically describes in great detail the vast ongoing collusion between the chemical firms, the university researchers who study their products AND the media. These three groups have combined to convince us all that commercial agriculture cannot "feed the world" without a heavy reliance on chemicals. I highly recommend this book. It is the best explanation of the complicated relationships/processes that I have ever seen. I linked info on The War On Bugs below. If you go to that link, read the review by Dr. Rob Williams near the end of that webpage. This is a book that everyone interested in horticulture and agriculture should read. And, how much of the chemical pesticide-related research is funded by the chemical manufacturers themselves? Research done in the 1990s found the chemical manufacturers and their industry lobbying groups were funding 66% of the research at that time, and it was increasing at a rate of about 3% a year. (As government cuts research funding, the manufacturers step in and fund more and more and more.) OK, I'll stop going on and on about the chemical manufacturers! I bought Milky Spore powder in a 40 oz. can and applied it over the 10,000 s.f. closest to the house, following label directions. When you have acreage (even 1 acre!), you just can't treat all of it, so I concentrate on the area closest to the house, yard, barn, garden, etc. If I had felt like I needed to do additional treatment, I probably would have treated a 10,000 s.f. area every year until I felt I'd covered all the area I wanted covered. Keep in mid that Milky Spore powder is a bacteria that should grow and spread on its own over time. Nolo Bait for grasshoppers works the same way--once you establish it on your land, you often have it forever after. I think I walked around with the cannister and sprinkled about 1 t. every 4 feet in a sort of checkerboard pattern. They also make milky spore powder dispensers or spreaders. I never try to treat a really large area because it costs too much to do so. I just treat what I can. Dawn