build up a little bitmore.” They break dormancy in April and


begin to appear in larger numbers beginning in late July and into August. Holder explained thewaspsmount an


attack directly on the fruit,moving into the orchard fromnearby areas. “They don’t nest in the orchard. They


nest in the outlying areas in natural habitat,” he said. “The European Paper Wasp seems to nest around buildings, under the eaves and soffits of buildings and so on.” As cherries begin to ripen on the trees


and vines, thewasps thenmove onto the fruit. “In some of the outlying areas in


particularwhere some of the orchards are a little bit isolated, they are quite devastated,” he said. Althoughwasp numberswere lower


in the Creston Valley than theywere in theOkanagan Valley last summer, the damage fromprevious years have had a substantial impact, saidHolder. After two or three years of having


their crops destroyed by the European wasps, some Creston-area orchards have been removed because growers were unable to find an effectivemethod of control. “This past year – althoughwasp


populationswere generally up – all the specieswere quite high,” he said. “Itwas awarm, dry summer;we didn’t really have anymore significant injury in Creston cherries this past year.” He believes those orchards thatwere


most at risk in previous yearswere those that had been removed. Holder noted theWestern Yellow


Jacket, a frequent, unwelcome guest at many outdoor barbecues and parties last summer, appears similar to the European PaperWasp. A primary difference is the European


PaperWasp is not quite as aggressive as the YellowJacket and isn’t indigenous to the area.Holder said the European PaperWasp travelled intoNorth America sometime in the 1980s. It moved fromthe eastern coast andmade itswaywestward and northerly to the point and has become prevalent in the Okanagan and Creston valleys. Themost effectivemeans of reducing


the number of European PaperWasp is to try to control the over-wintering queens in the spring. “As soon as you start to see any nest-


building taking place, destroy the nest because the queens over-winter and they start their nest-building in April,” saidHolder. “If you can get that in check early on, you can reduce the population a little bit, although it’s not


22


Dial 800/572-1553 and reserve the varieties you'll need for 2014 planting or contact Luis DeMelo at 250/495-6143, Osoyoos


P.O. Box 1339 Wenatchee, WA 98807 PHONE 509/886-8189 FAX 509/886-0294 WEB www.vanwell.net EMAIL vanwell@vanwell.net


Visit our Website, vanwell.net, for complete Variety, Cultivar and Plant Patent information! British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2014 Goldrich Apricot Early Italian Prune


complete control.” Some of the growers he’s spokenwith


in the Creston area have tried trapping thewasp but haven’t found it effective at population control and preventing damage to orchards. Holder said some growers have used


different insecticides prior to harvest however there are no insecticidesmade specifically forwasps and the products growers usedwere relatively ineffective becausewasps aremobile,moving in and out of the orchards. “You kill a fewbut you don’t kill


enough to prevent further damage,” he


said. “They’ve looked at different possibilities but there’s nothing really effective to this point.” Ron Pattermann, agriculture services


withGrowers Supply, said itwholesaled 10 times its normal amount ofwasp traps to stores last year. “We couldn’t keep up to the demand,”


said Pattermann. The demand outweighed the supply by far.” Pattermann saidGrowers Supplywas


re-orderingweekly because it kept running out and the disposable traps were being sold as soon as shipments were being received.


Blushingstar® Peach


Bing Cherry


Angelus Peach


Angelus Peach


Our Best To You


Independence Nectarine MEMBER


Redhaven Peach


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32