The Rim Country is home to gorgeous forests, but our native pines face a constant threat: bark beetles. Drought stress makes trees vulnerable, allowing these tiny insects to overwhelm natural defenses. Prevention is key to saving your valuable landscape trees.
Early Signs of Beetle Infestation
Look closely at your pine trunks for “pitch tubes”—small clumps of white or reddish-pink sap that look like popcorn. This is the tree trying to push the beetles out. Other signs include boring dust (looking like coffee grounds) in bark crevices and needles turning yellow or reddish-brown starting at the crown.
Effective Preventive Strategies
Healthy trees rarely die from beetle attacks. Keep your trees watered deeply during dry spells, avoid damaging root zones with construction or heavy traffic, and never prune pines during beetle flight season (spring through fall).
Managing Infested Trees
If a tree is heavily infested and needles are entirely brown, the tree cannot be saved. It must be professionally removed, and the wood must be properly disposed of or debarked to prevent beetles from emerging and spreading to adjacent healthy pines on your property.