Pine beetle outbreak subsides

Columbia State ^ | 01/01/04 | A.P.

[Holly_P]

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A Southern pine beetle outbreak has subsided after costing the state $356 million worth of pine trees during the past six years.

The beetles killed $6.6 million worth of South Carolina pine trees in 2003, according to the state Forestry Commission. That's down dramatically from the previous two years. The bugs destroyed $220 million in trees in 2002 and $75 million in 2001.

In an average year, pine beetles kill $8.5 million worth of trees in the state, forestry commission spokesman Ken Cabe said.

Wetter weather and greater numbers of predators feeding on the beetles helped limit their damage on the state's pine trees in 2003, forestry experts say.

More clerid beetles were in the state's forests eating the smaller beetle, said Andy Boone, who tracks beetle activity for the Forestry Commission. "The good guys finally came back this year," Boone said.

Heavy rain also helped trees produce more sap to push out beetle larvae before they could do much damage.

Southern pine beetles kill trees by boring into the bark and laying their eggs in the soft cambium layer that is vital to trees' health. The larvae feed on the soft tissue, killing the tree.

South Carolina pines suffering through a five-year drought until early 2003 weren't able to produce enough sap to push out the larvae.

But the rain is not all good, Boone says. Many areas of the state received so much rain this year that some trees drowned, Boone said. Roots that had stretched deeper in search of water in recent years stayed underwater so long this year that they died.

Boone worries that pine beetles will make a quick comeback in 2004, feasting on trees weakened by the water.

There are still active pine beetle outbreaks across the state but most are small. There are still enough pine beetles in Abbeville, Anderson, Edgefield, Greenwood, Lancaster, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens and Saluda counties to qualify as an outbreak.

[Holly_P]

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[upchuck]

Can ya do a SC ping?

[RichardW]

I live in Texas and lost two pine trees in my yard from these beetles. It will kill the tree in short order. And then the trees need to come out quickly before they fall on your house. Bad news.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

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[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Heavy rain also helped trees produce more sap to push out beetle larvae before they could do much damage.

We need rain in the west then!

[farmfriend]

Don't know about you but we have been getting our share up here.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The last one stayed off shore , didn't want to mess up the Rose Parade I guess.

Suppose to get some sprinkles in the morning though.

[Humidston]

I remember hearing about an old treatment for the beetles... Hook a wire to your lawn mower battery, and stick the other end just under the bark of an infected tree. Pull the cord on the lawn mower - which sends a current through the tree and it supposedly electrocutes the beetles. Repeat a few times.

I'm not sure how well it works, but maybe it could save a few trees(?)

[Flyer]

Hook a wire to your lawn mower battery, and stick the other end just under the bark of an infected tree

You come up with the weirdest stuff at 3:00 in the morning.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[SC Swamp Fox]

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[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Well then I guess that we're lucky that hurricane Hugo wiped out most of the pine trees around us.

[looscnnn]

Coming from MI, I have had my fill of pine trees. I plan on cutting the ones in my yard down are replant with fruit trees.

[libstripper]

I live in east Tennessee on about an acre of mostly wooded land. These beetles are a disaster. Last year they kmilled many trees around my land and on my land, dropping about four into my swimming pool and onto my house. Total insurance claim was about $6,000.

Most of the trees in my front yard were pines, and all of them were killed. For a while, starting in October, I had eight or nine downed tree trunks in my front yard. By March I had cut them up, moved about 4,000 pounds of brush and logs into a burning pile my neighbor and I had set up, and burned the whole mess in about eight hours.

There are still a few surviving pines (about 10% of the original population, and the heavy rains of 2003 seem to have stopped the beetles.