Invasive Japanese beetle threatens P.E.I. gardens
CBC
An invasive species is spreading in Queens County and perhaps beyond, and it is causing problems for gardeners and potentially farmers.
The Japanese beetle is a big eater, and its appetite is wide-ranging. Nick Diamond of Charlottetown has found them on his nut trees.
"After picking and picking at them each day, I was able to diminish the numbers a little bit, but there are still quite a few on the trees. I think they're going to be ongoing as the season goes on," said Diamond.
"About 75 per cent of this tree is still in good shape. They might decimate 15 to 20 per cent of this tree, but I feel like without being proactive about it, they may have really taken quite a bit off the tree."
Erica MacDonald of the P.E.I. Invasive Species Council said the beetle's preferred foods include grape vines, hops, canna lily, fruit trees, roses, corn, asparagus and soybean, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry.
"You want to be monitoring constantly and monitoring early in the season," said MacDonald.
"The sooner you get out and realize you have a problem, and start to control it, the less of a population you hope that you would have."
They can be very difficult to eradicate, and it may be necessary to just get rid of the plants they like to feed on.
"If you notice you have a huge population of Japanese beetle on your property and you're growing something like roses, as pretty as those are, you may want to get rid of them," she said.
The council has about a dozen reports of the beetle, mostly in Charlottetown and central Queens County. They are widespread in Charlottetown, MacDonald said. The first reports of the beetle were in the city in 2009.
Handpicking, or collecting with a handheld vacuum cleaner for larger infestations, and then drowning them in soapy water are the primary control methods. Neem oil can deter feeding for three or four days.
There are bucket traps that can attract and kill them, but the pheromone bait runs the risk of actually attracting more beetles to your property.
"The more people that are taking notice that the species is here and the more people that are doing something about it will certainly help us out in terms of population control," said MacDonald.
"If people aren't trying to control the problem, the problem is only going to get worse."
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.