How to Kill a Pine Beetle in Your Trees

Pine beetles are mainly found in forests in Western North America. They can, however, also be found all the way from Canada down to Mexico. Pine beetles won't hurt humans or animals, but they will destroy all of the trees in their path. If you notice any popcorn-like bubbles of resin on your trees or dust at the base of the tree, you probably have an infestation of pine beetles. You must act quickly in order to save your trees.

Nuts

Raisins

Suet

Axe

Wedge

Hammer

Borer spray

Insecticide

Mix some nuts and raisins with some suet and set it outside to attract woodpeckers to your yard. Woodpeckers also like to eat cracked corn and black-oil sunflower seeds.

Peel back the bark of the tree. You can peel back the bark with your hands if the tree is damaged enough. Otherwise, you will need to make a cut in the bark with an axe. Then stick a wedge in the cut and hammer the wedge down until you get a piece of bark to come off. Repeat until you have removed all of the infected bark.

Burn the peeled bark in a fire pit. This will get rid of an infestation in the early stages.

Spray your tree with borer spray. The borer spray contains the ingredient lindane. This will kill the pine beetle at all of its stages in the life cycle.

Spray an insecticide that contains the ingredient carbaryl directly on the tree. This will prevent the pine beetles from attacking your trees in the future.

Hire a professional to thin out your trees. This is more of a long-term care option and probably one of the most expensive. Utilize this option if you are not having success with the other measures.

You must follow the dosing instructions of the carbaryl insecticide carefully, or it won't be effective.

If your tree has severe root disease or is injured badly, it probably isn't worth saving.

Ips and other beetles resemble the pine beetle. You will want to make sure that you have correctly identified the beetle before you begin treatment. A second pair of eyes can be helpful.