I am in Central Texas. I have billions of grasshoppers that have destroyed my baby fruit trees two years in a row. I bought 25 guineas last year and 10 the year before I only have 5 of those that have stuck around. I am currently housing 21 2 1/2 month old guineas in the "guineawac" I put together, but they can't be set loose on the hordes of hoppers until they have begun to lay from what I can gather. Last year I spent $220.00 on Nolo Bait.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to terminate these pernicious pests??? They are the thing I hate most in all the world. Help me!!!!

-- Doreen Davenport (livinginskin@yahoo.com), May 16, 2000

Answers

we dont have grasshoppers here but we have ticks lots of them,and the guineas do a great job. i raised ours with chickens from day one and that realy helped them to stay around.how about chickens free range?

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), May 16, 2000.

Rotenone is an organic insecticide. It should take care of the grasshoppers. I'm guessing it will work better on little hoppers than big ones. You can spray or dust it on. Reapply after rain. It may keep them at bay until your guineas can have a go at them.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), May 16, 2000.

A good flock of chickens may be your best bet. Get a breed billed as 'active foragers'. They are much easier to keep around than guineas, and you get eggs too.

-- Connie (Connie@lunehaven.com), May 23, 2000.

I have a flock of Gold laced Wyandottes. Which is only one reason I can't use Rotenone or permethrines (sp?). I just can't believe the amount of hoppers. They came out & in one day they ate all the leaves off of my 2 year old apple tree and were into the bark. I have set out about 100 jars of molasses and water and need to drain them, but nothing short of a miracle will knock these buggers down. I have hardware cloth guards on all of my fruit trees, and they have gotten in through some of the little gaps. I sprayed the top with Raid and counted 110 in one guard that died slow and horribly to my delight. I hae a 50 pound bucket of Nolo Bait on order, but don't think that will work until next year. Oh well. I will do all I can. Thanks for your help. Doreen

-- Doreen (livinginskin@yahoo.com), May 23, 2000.

The bait works best when the hoppers are just hatched, so get it out as early in spring as possible. They also don't like crossing bare dirt, so maybe taking out any grass or underbrush around your trees could be an option. At least here, in high-desert Nevada, the winter temperatures will freeze any eggs uncovered, so late fall cultivation helped knock down the numbers as well.

-- Sadge (firesignfarm@hotmail.com), May 23, 2000.