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Hummingbirds to control SWD – Workshop

This Wednesday! "Using Hummingbirds to Help Control SWD" — a twilight meeting in Salem, NY hosted by Laura McDermott, Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program (ENYCHP). Biological and cultural controls of SWD are possible! Now that SWD numbers are increasing, every tactic used will help protect your late season berries.

Come learn about ongoing research into encouraging hummingbird predation on SWD adults. Dr. Juliet Carroll of Cornell NYS IPM will also discuss new research into better thresholds for monitoring SWD and how those thresholds will more accurately inform spray decisions. Managing crop canopy and weeds are also critical for SWD control.

If you don't want to spray, ENYCHP will have current information on exclusion netting work over berries, so you can plan to cover your crop next year.

Hummingbirds eat lots of small insects, including aphids and fruit flies, to supplement their nectar-rich diet. Up to 2000 per day!

DEC Credits Pending.

WHEN:
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
5:00 to 7:00 PM

LOCATION:
Gardenworks Farm
1055 County Rte 30
Salem, NY 12865

COST:  Free and Open to the public

Please Register online at:
https://enych.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=972
Or call Abby Henderson at 518-746-2553

More about hummingbirds is in the Hummingbirds SWD blog post.

2 thoughts on “Hummingbirds to control SWD – Workshop

  1. Morgan Moore

    Currently I have 6 to 8 hummingbirds coming to my feeders. I have approximately an acre of mature blueberry bushes and I have yet to find any SWD evidence. I wonder if these two things are related.

  2. jec3@cornell.edu

    Tough to say with certainty. SWD has a long span (50 or more days) for when it's first caught or found across New York, unlike many other insect pests that are found, routinely, each year at about the same time throughout the state. Do keep an eye out for SWD infestations in your blueberries, as hummingbirds will be migrating south.

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