History
The first mountain pine beetle infestation in the County of Wetaskiwin was discovered in the summer of 2018. County staff began scouting in 2019 and had 40 confirmed sites. In 2020 there were 5 additional sites identified however the attacks appeared to be from a previous year. Mike Undershultz, Forestry Officer for Alberta Agri-culture and Forestry explained that there were very low reproduction numbers over the past two years, therefore there was a small flight of beetles in 2020 and 2021.
Control
Alberta Ag and Forestry recommends that pine trees with over 40 pitch tubes be removed by chipping, peeling, or burning on site. Verbenone is a synthetic anti-aggregation pheromone that gives the beetles a “No Vacancy” message so they continue on their flight. These verbenone pouches are attached to the north side of the tree about 6 – 8’ from the ground and cover 12 - 15 square meters. The pouches should be hung around July 1st in order to be effective for the mid July flight. The County sold 500 pouches in 2019, 1500 in 2020 and 1,600 in 2021.
The Verbenone pouches are available at $10 per pouch (including GST) and need to be ordered prior to May 20, 2022. To pre order your Verbenone pouches or if you have any questions, please contact Stephen Majek at 780-387-6137.
Payment in advance for the pouches can be done by:
- Mailing a cheque
- Credit Card through OptionPay (for more information on OptionPay, please click on the link)
- At the County Office (cash, cheque or debit)