Preventative Spraying

With an over 95% success rate, spraying is the best way to save your trees from the MPB. At FFM, our trained and certified staff uses the best available pesticides, sprayers, and techniques.  Our equipment can spray over 90 feet!  We have the largest sprayers in the area.  When researching what equipment to buy we decided to go to one of the hardest hit beetle areas - Grand County, Colorado, with some areas experiencing over a 95% mortality rate in pine trees.  One of the complaints by homeowners was that they had had their trees sprayed and the trees still became infested with beetles and died.  After more research and and talking with professionals working in the field it was discovered that the traditional wisdom of spraying only 30 feet up the tree does not hold true during a Mountain Pine Beetle infestation!  This is why we invested in larger, more durable equipment so that we can spray your trees all the way to the top.  This is the most effective way to save your trees.  Spraying only half way up the tree will not ensure protection!  With our larger equipment and our research into the best practices of how to care for trees during Mountain Pine Beetle infestations, we feel we are the best company for the job.   



Pheromone Pouches



We use Pheromone pouches (40 pouches per acre) in areas where we cannot spray. These pouches are a kind of "NO VACANCY" sign, giving off a pheromone “signal” that tells the beetles that the area is already infested and to move onto the next area. They're not nearly as effective as spraying, so we only use them in areas with difficult access or withing 25' of open waterways (streams, ponds, wells, etc.)



Selective Thinning



Thinning is a long-term method of MPB prevention, focussing on creating a healthy stand of trees. By thinning out weaker trees the remaining trees get more sunlight, water, and nutrients, which gives them a better chance of defending themselves against the MPB.



It can take trees up to ten years to realize the benefits of thinning. If the trees are already stressed, there will be a lag time between thinning and the trees becoming healthier.



Along those lines, the natural defense of healthy trees is to “pitch out” the beetles by forcing them out with sap. The problem is that when trees are stressed and thirsty because of drought and overcrowding, the trees run out of sap when just a handful of beetles hit, leaving the tree with no natural defense – this is where FFM can help!



Once again, spraying is the best option, but we will investigate and advise on selective thinning and definitely recommend it for a long term healthy tree stand.



Infested Beetle Tree Removal



Beetles attack trees in late June to Early July. Their lifecycle is one year, so the beetles fly and bore into new trees July through September, lay eggs and die. These eggs hatch out during winter and eat up and down the phloem layer of the tree. They mature in spring and fly again in summer looking for new trees to attack.



If we can remove selected infested trees before they fly the next spring, the surrounding trees will not be exposed to these beetles the next summer when they fly, giving the trees a better chance of surviving.



FFM can definitely remove infested trees, giving surrounding trees a healthier environment. In areas where there are just a few heavily infested trees and not many beetles in the surrounding forests, this selective removal can be very effective. However, the reality is that there usually are so many beetles in the surrounding area that your trees will continue to be exposed to the beetles, so again – spraying is the best action to take.