Posted by Heather on August 27, 2001 at 13:55:31:

In Reply to: How to get rid of those tent worms?? posted by Victor N. on May 16, 2001 at 15:30:56:

this won't be of much use this year, since I just found this sight, but there's always next spring. Each year I handle the caterpillar problem on the fruit trees at our nursery. About the 2nd week in April is when you need to start looking for the nests. This early in the year, nests aren't usually too high off the ground, but the tents can be hard to spot because they are quite small. Armed with a spray bottle containing water and dishsoap (i.e. Dawn) and a long stick, tear the nest open, exposing the caterpillars, and spray them with the soapy water. It's best to do this early morning or in the evening when it is still cool because the majority of the caterpillars will be in the nest. You won't be able to get ALL the nests, but it will definitely cut down on the number of larger nests you see later in the spring and also in future years. I started doing this at the nursery about 3 years ago, and this year we hardly had any caterpillars in the trees. The soapy water won't harm your trees, and you won't have to worry about a breeze blowing pesticides back in your face.

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