Western Canada is deeply entrenched in a deep freeze. Can we finally hope for a respite from the Mountain Pine Beetle? Apparently they are vulnerable this early in the season.
Minus 40C at Puntzi, what's the prospects of the demise of the M.P.B.?
- Thread starter JLM
- Start date
we need a few more days but the early frost will have killed lots,my trees all were damaged from it so I know it would have done some damage to the larvae.
I havent seen much change though since I first worked on the beetle kill program in 1978.
Alberta was fighting them back then but BC and Montana werent doing much so it's kind of too little too late now.
The frost was so bad it killed lots of buds on my spruce trees and I havent seen that in 20 years so maybe it took out some beetles also.
I havent seen much change though since I first worked on the beetle kill program in 1978.
Alberta was fighting them back then but BC and Montana werent doing much so it's kind of too little too late now.
The frost was so bad it killed lots of buds on my spruce trees and I havent seen that in 20 years so maybe it took out some beetles also.
Monday, December 14, 2009 - Eagle Creek temp; -31C. Predicted wind chill to -40C. It's so frickin' cold here I have to carry Bobbie outside put her down so she can quickly do her business then rush back inside before I start freezing up too. At least my feline furballs are indoor cats wouldn't dream of letting them out today.
Judging from what I see in this area, we need not worry too much about the Pine Beetle as our pines are dead - even most of the juvies - so much for the beetle attacking the 'mature' trees. Now we are noticing that the Fir beetle and Spruce beetle are making inroads all over the place.
Yep, you'd be enjoying the benefits of the moderating effects of Canim Lake. :smile:
Was down by the lake yesterday to watch the Roar of the Rings with CB, it was waaaay colder down there especially with the wind chill coming off it. We could actually see the ice forming and spreading out from the shores. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that the bay is completely frozen over this a.m. :smile:
The beetles attack any pine but unless it's a severe infestation(like now) the young pine can kick them out as they have a higher sap flow.
What would have helped is if they allowed logging of mature stands of pine but it was the environmental movement that had lots of them excluded from LTP's and off limits to logging.
They were so bad in 1978 that you would find them chewing into your arms,attracted from all the pine sap that came off the chainsaw.I spent a few months this summer building power pole structures here in the mountains and saw a lot of country,there's not many pine left unaffected here.
When the beetles first started becoming a real problem we were told they would only attack mature trees, kakato, that's why I put that in. Only took a couple of years before we noticed that such was not the case. The only pines left living are about 5 years old now and so far, long as they aren't in big stands, them seem to be making out okay. Time will tell.
What is truly sad is to see all the Ponderosa Pines that have been hit, they only, as you probably know, propogate after a fire has gone through. Last thing we need around here is more wildfires, still I mourn the loss of those beautiful Ponderosa's. :-(
We lost pretty well everything here in the bow crow forest,along with the flathead valley in B.C.
Then we had the 30 day lost creek fire,that pretty well finished off everything but the popular. That was Alberta and maybe Canada's most expensive fire.
Same time as the kelowna fire.
The beetles do attack all pine regardless,it's just that the young ones stand a better chance of kicking out the beetle where as an older tree will literally bleed to death first.Thats what the sap tubes you see on infested trees are from,the tree defending itself.
Then we had the 30 day lost creek fire,that pretty well finished off everything but the popular. That was Alberta and maybe Canada's most expensive fire.
Same time as the kelowna fire.
The beetles do attack all pine regardless,it's just that the young ones stand a better chance of kicking out the beetle where as an older tree will literally bleed to death first.Thats what the sap tubes you see on infested trees are from,the tree defending itself.
Funny you mention that.. They asked our local weather man about that topic last week..
By standard weather men are not highly rated by what he said made sense..
El Nino can be present in the waters and we can still have high pressure systems move in that can get locked in certain areas that create low temperatures. In Vancouver we are seeing snow and it is far from unusual at this time of year but we think it is cold..
At the end of winter we will see if the overall season was warmer or not. That will be the indicator as people see the cold snaps as a time frame and immediate issue.. I certainly have put aside the 30 plus days of straight rain we had in November :-?
Now his forecast for the day was OK.. LOL
We're in a deep freeze?
Thermo-meter says it's -10 on the back porch. We haven't dug out the woolies yet.
I think if we got down to about -40 for 2 weeks it'd put a large dent in the beetle population, but I won't be cheering about beetles dying off yet.
I also heard somewhere that the internal temperatures of evergreens vary from ambient air temperatures. I have no idea how much or why, though. I bet that has an effect on beetles, too.
Thermo-meter says it's -10 on the back porch. We haven't dug out the woolies yet.
I think if we got down to about -40 for 2 weeks it'd put a large dent in the beetle population, but I won't be cheering about beetles dying off yet.
I also heard somewhere that the internal temperatures of evergreens vary from ambient air temperatures. I have no idea how much or why, though. I bet that has an effect on beetles, too.
Their just under the bark so a good frost will kill lots and we had it.
The trees here never even had time to lose their leaves before this cold snap hit.
Their food source is also fading away so I think the cycle will start to slow down again.
We used to find the biggest infestations in just the big patchs of pine but their so widespread now that even the lone pine tree miles from any others will be infested.
Here in the bow crow forest they are sill choppering in,cutting and scorching the odd small patchs of red they see.The trees are dead by then and the beetles moved on.
More of a make work project for the forestry guys now.
Cold for the Okanagan today too, presently warmed up to -14 and its windy.
Hard to prune apple trees today I tell you. Hard to believe that by Thursday they
are calling for +6 and rain. The pine beetle here took a toll last summer but its
not too bad on the farm, of course I water the trees a bit once every two weeks and
I have yet to lose a single tree.
Hard to prune apple trees today I tell you. Hard to believe that by Thursday they
are calling for +6 and rain. The pine beetle here took a toll last summer but its
not too bad on the farm, of course I water the trees a bit once every two weeks and
I have yet to lose a single tree.
Looks like this cold snap is short lived, temperatures in some parts of the province about 10C or more warmer this morning. Guess it was just wishful thinking to hope for the demise of the M.P.B.
i know merrit could use the deep freeze. When i was there last year that place was a giant tinderbox .