While the City of Cape Town addressed concerns during an online community meeting held on Tuesday 7 February, for every question answered, two more were raised. Chief among these was how the beetle was spreading, how it could be – if not stopped – slowed down and if there perhaps wasn’t some Hail Mary product or treatment out there that could swoop in and save the day.
Some homeowners might be tempted to put their infested trees on “life-support”, hoping that a wonder product will come along in a year or two. Is this feasible or dangerous? The beetle can move with humans in a multitude of different ways, including firewood. For the most effective dispersal of lots of individuals, you need only a small piece of infested wood. For example, a 500 g piece of wood submitted for analysis to colleagues contained over 40 females, each of which can start a new infestation.
There are many people who have opted to “wait and see”. Even when applying chemicals, it at first may seem as if it is working but, inevitably, the beetle gets through the defences and nearly all English oaks will die, some faster than others. My advice: don’t roll the dice and have an 80% chance – or even higher – of adding to the problem.
ThePeoplesPost This Borer beatle is nothing compared to these black power thugs in all the provinces. These thugs have destroyed all infrastructure and SOE's. They have further increased property values to steal some more leaving all property owners scrambling!