Pine beetles

I have about 40 acres of pine that is about 20 years old and has been thinned once. I found 6 dead pines that have beetles in them. What is the best option for me to do?

Call your county forester and find out what kind of bugs you have. It is probably something as simple as a lightning strike with Ips beetles. If the trees are already brown the bugs that killed them are probably long gone.

Thanks for the reply I found sawdust around the base of the trees and when I peeled the bark off there was little white larva/worms in the bark.

Probably sawyer beetles eating the dead trees, sort of like termites eating the wood. The Ips, Black Turpentine or Southern Pine are the most common pine tree killers. It sounds like Ips, and the trees that are dead might be all you lose from this hit, but it wouldn't cost anything to get your county forester out there..

I look up some pictures of the lps and I think you are right. I went back Sunday and walked through most of the stand of pines and all the rest of them seems to be ok.I am going to get a forester to come out when it dries up a little. Thanks

We have ips beetles show up in all our stands, especially after a thinning.
The ips beetle "generally" will jump around and kill a few trees here and there whereas the southern pine beetle can and will kill a whole stand without skipping. 6-7 trees on a 40 is normal and most likely just ips especially if the trees are spread out. One 50 acre stand we had after the drought back around 2000-2002 got really bad with ips that by 07 we had to clear it, but that's rare. Your county forester will be glad to look at it with you I'm sure.
Funny story here, back when I was 13-14 my dad had recently cut most of our property and set It back out in pines. He/we didn't know the difference in ips beetle and southern pine beetle. A forester told him to cut all infested trees and cut a buffer around each tree when he saw a tree that had beetles. My dad worked me and my brothers tails off cutting trees for 2-3 years before we learned we were dealing with ips beetle and it wasn't necessary. For years we'd walk through open areas where we had cut 5-6 trees trying to "stop the spread" of pine beetles and laugh our ass off at how hard we worked for nothing!!!

I'm in Macon County a lot and would be glad to come take a look at the trees. It's most likely Ips if it's isolated to a few trees in one area or scattered trees. Not much you can do but keep an eye on it through the spring and summer to see if any new trees are dying. Send me your contact information if you want.

In the last few years I have seen a number of stands of pines that lost a high percentage of trees to Black Turpentine beetles also.

Thanks for all the information. bwhunter when I get caught up at work I will send you a pm try to set up a day I can meet with you. Took two weeks off at the end of deer season and the boss man about to blow a gasket.

Sounds good, I have a lot going on but if we can work it out I would be glad to meet you on site. If not, you can send me a map and I'll take a look when I'm in the area.

We have lost almost all our 20 yr old stands the last 3 years. Got 60 more acres waiting on a Forrester and the rain to stop to clear cut it next. Even some of the places that we only had small infestations of 6 to 8 trees where a thinning was only recommended are now showing signs again. From what I have seen Clear cut it and start over these jokers evidently stay a while. We have had the land 25 years and have never seen them before the bad drought year now they are everywhere yearly.

We even have a few 10 acre spots that are so far gone we just have to let them fall where they are

I'm clear cutting my 20 yr old stand right now. They don't have bugs yet, but lots of plantations around here are getting hit hard. Prices are pretty good right now, so I decided not to gamble on it.

Those things are the devil. Never knew until a few months ago you can actually hear them eating. Was talking to my timber guy on a calm quiet mornings a few months ago on a small clear cut I had done and he pointed it out. Kept hearing this "scritch scritch " sound and it was the sob's eating my trees.

What you were hearing was most likely a pine sawyer beetle. They feed on dying trees that have been killed by other pine beetles. As far as I know, you would not be able to hear the southern pine, ips or black turpentine beetles actually feeding.
If you go around a logging site after the harvest is finished you can hear the pine sawyer beetles working on the tops and debris around loading areas.