Question:
I found a beehive between some bushes last year. The area is quiet now. How do I make sure they don't come back?Answer:
- Most likely, this was a Yellow Jacket nest rather than a honeybee hive.
- In late November, a Yellow Jacket nest becomes inactive as the worker and male Yellow Jackets die off. The Queen bees leave the old hives and hibernate elsewhere during winter.
- In spring, she emerges from hibernation, seeking and establishing a new colony elsewhere, never in an old hive. This hive remains active until November, when the cycle begins again.
- Hornets/Wasps, honey, and bumblebee hives are inactive during cool, wet weather, but you’ll see activity in March with the longer, warmer days.
- For Yellow Jackets, the best defense is to set out traps in spring, around March or April, to catch the Queen(s) as she searches for a new home.
- Be sure to wash out traps from the previous year with warm, soapy water and replace the attractant. It’s also good to refresh the attractant again in August for the fall season.
- With wet conditions in February and March, overwintering queens drown, but that's not the case this year. As a result, many more of them will be establishing nests. Yellow Jackets are an active pest from July through October.
Question:
We have a six-year-old Coral Bark Japanese Maple. Last year, a few of the smaller branches turned black, and we pruned them off. Now, one of the three main branches is doing the same thing, and the leaves are withering. If we remove it, the plant's shape will be ruined. What should we do?Answer:
- It’s never good news when the stems of a Japanese Maple turn black.
- The black coloration is a key sign of a vascular disease called Verticillium Wilt. Verticillium Wilt is a soil-borne fungus that’s common in our Bay Area soils. When the infected stems are cut, you’ll see black streaks in the tissue.
- It affects a wide range of ornamental and herbaceous plants, including tomatoes, peppers, roses, Pistache, and Camphor trees.
- The fungus works its way up the plant from the roots, disrupting the vascular tissue responsible for transporting water and nutrients throughout the plant.
- Unfortunately, there are no controls for this problem. The disease strikes without warning. Our poorly draining, heavy clay soil and excessive summer watering don’t help. It’s especially frustrating when Verticillium Wilt affects established and thriving ornamentals.
- With tomatoes and other vegetables, we can plant resistant varieties, but that’s not an option for Japanese Maples. I’ve removed the infected limb because it won’t recover, and I encourage new growth by feeding the plant organic fertilizer.
- A replacement branch can be chosen from the new growth.
- Leaf blight can also cause dark, deadened shoots and curled, darkened leaves on the tree. Airborne bacteria, such as Pseudomonas, are also responsible for leaf and branch dieback on a Japanese Maple. But Verticillium Wilt remains the primary suspect.