<html><head></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:courier new, courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">The pandemic has mostly shut down my research this year since we are trying to minimize human contact and depression is a constant companion due to the current political situation. However, I am spending at least 10 hours a week in our pandemic garden harvesting onions, beans, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and the yellow squash which refuses to give up.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><div><p class="ydpebf9d2f4MsoNormal">This year we planted a “pandemic garden”. In the last 5
years the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug (<i>Halyomorpha halys</i>) has been a huge
problem, mostly on tomatoes and pole beans. The last several years we have lost
90 percent or more of the pole beans and a large percentage of our tomatoes,
especially cherry tomatoes. This year has been different because there has been
comparatively little damage to beans and tomatoes. I have seen a few immature
BMSB, but not the numbers expected from past years’ experience. Over the last 5
years we have seen a general decline in BMSB numbers around our home, but not
enough to account for this year’s observations. The weather this year may be
less rain for us but is just as humid/overcast as the prior 2 years, so the years are comparable
in this regard.</p>
<p class="ydpebf9d2f4MsoNormal">What I think is happening is threefold. The first is the
continued general decline of BMSB we have been witnessing for 5 or 6 years.
Second, we had a freeze on May 9 and several other cold days over about a week
which may have killed BMSB emerging from hibernation. The third is that I
spaced some of the plants better than other years and a fungus mostly
defoliated our tomatoes leaving the fruit to mature in the open. What I have
seen in the past is that BMSB likes densely planted beans because the thick foliage
offers shelter. I think the same is true for tomatoes. If I remember right from
the last three years the beans in the open had fewer bite marks than the beans
buried in the dense foliage. I think that is happening this year, too. We have
a remesh wire trellis with 6 inch squares I used to help me space the “yard
long” beans. There is very little damage on the beans themselves as compared to
the years when I over-planted.</p>
<p class="ydpebf9d2f4MsoNormal">The other creature missing this year is slugs. I have seen
very few if any around the yard or in the garden. Perhaps the “Milwaukee’s
Best” I served them over the last two years decided them to try somewhere else
with better beer?</p>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Another phenomena I may be seeing is apparent hummingbird
damage on tomatoes, especially red cherry tomatoes. <span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "courier new", courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Lately when I am in the garden I am often</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "courier new", courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "courier new", courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">buzzed by hummingbirds. </span></span>A week ago while
picking beans an immature hummingbird stopped about 18 inches from my face to
thank me for the banquet we provided for her and her friends. Another perched on a tomato cage then pecked at a piece of pink surveyors tape. The bright red cherry tomatoes and a few yellow pear tomatoes
appear to have bite marks in them which I cannot attribute to rodents or
insects. The BMSB bite marks are distinct as are the bites from chipmunks.</div>
<p class="ydpebf9d2f4MsoNormal">These are thoughts based on casual observations, nothing
more. However, these thoughts may help us better understand BMSB and the
non-pesticide control measures we can take.</p>
<div>As a postscript in the years since I started studying <i>Castanea
dentata</i> (wild not the obscene bastardized hybrids) I have seen <i>C.
dentata</i> trees with burrs on many of the trails I walk. The
difference this year is those on the top of the ridge of Blue Mountain near
home, northern Berks County, PA, do not appear to have burrs. However, two <i>C.
dentata</i> trees I have been tracking for at least 5 years which are below the
ridgeline have burrs. Perhaps the same late spring freeze which may have taken
out the BMSB also destroyed the flowers on these trees on the top of the ridge,
but not those below it.</div></div><div><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">It is time to talk with hummingbirds and chipmunks discussing with them what they can and cannot eat. They are much brighter than most of our neighbors and excellent conversationalists.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> Richard Gardner</div><br></div></div></body></html>