Week of June 27, 2021

We have relocated to our Keuka Lakehouse and TAProots Farm and were immediately faced with a new challenge: an enormous GYPSY MOTH infestation. We knew it was coming, since last year there were clouds of the moths all over the trees. The tan-colored, medium-sized moths were mostly males, who obviously mated with the flightless females which laid huge numbers of eggs in white, putty-like deposits. These produce thousands of eggs which hatch thousands of caterpillars. These hungry insects then climb up the trunks of trees and devour the leafy canopy. Our porches were covered with chewed up leaves and little green poops. If they do this for two or more years, they can kill even the largest trees. They seem to favor white oaks on our property and we hear that spruce trees are also prime targets. We have at least three white oaks at our Lakehouse, all appear to have major leaf loss. The recommended defense is to wrap the trunk of the tree with a sheet of burlap, tied on the tree with twine at its middle, then folded down to create two layers. The caterpillars climb down the tree at night for safety, and hide under and between the burlap layers. We then come along and pick of the caterpillars by the hundreds and put them in water with Dawn dishwashing soap, which kills them instantly. We also scrape off the egg cases and add to the soapy water. We hope these efforts will help the three trees weather this storm of caterpillars. All three are important parts of our Lakehouse landscape.