4 February 2009 - 2:28Herbal Tea Ingredient Helps Beetle Plagued Trees

The U.S. Forest Service discovered that a sprinkle of flakes that contain the pheromone verbenone over lodgepole pine forests will diminish the number of trees that are attacked by bark beetles by two thirds. Verbone is and ingredient of rosemary and walnut husks and is approved as for use in herbal teas. It is also similar to a pheromone that beetle emit to tell other beetles that their tree is getting crowded and they should pick another tree. The search was on for an expensive method to distribute the flakes and it turns out that sprinkling from helicopters is the best. This costs $110 an acre, as opposed to $1,000 an acre or more for forest thinning or the use of insecticide which are expensive and kill beneficial insects.