Bugs mounting attack on state wreath makers > Insect influx damages Down East balsam fir trees

MACHIAS — Two tiny insects that damage balsam fir trees appear to be on the increase this year, and one Washington County wreath maker believes the worst is yet to come.

The culprits are the balsam twig aphid and the balsam gall midge. The aphid sucks on new shoots during the summer, leaving the balsam fir tips twisted and curled. Gall midge larvae also feed on balsam fir, causing the needles to turn brown and fall from the bough.

The quality of balsam fir brush is important to Down East Maine, which supplies 60 percent of the balsam fir wreaths and decorations sold nationwide, according to industry estimates.

Tippers, those who harvest balsam fir tips for mail-order and wholesale wreath companies, report that aphid- and midge-damaged greens are more prevalent than they’ve been in years.

Herbert Hanscom agrees but said the big problem will come next year. Hanscom and his wife, Flo, have operated Flo’s Wreaths of Marshfield for 43 years. The couple purchase around 300,000 pounds of brush a year, and Hanscom said they’ll ship 30 tractor-trailer loads of wreaths to wholesalers this season.

Hanscom said this year reminds him of the one immediately preceding the 1993 outbreak, which was the worst in recent memory. In 1993, tippers would come up to a full tree and have to look for a bough that wasn’t affected by the aphid, he said.

Arthur Mingo of Mingo’s Evergreen Products in Calais said this year is the worst he has ever seen for gall midge. Mingo’s company purchases about 200,000 pounds of brush a year and the gall midge damage is very heavy this year, he said.

“We get a lot of brush from New Brunswick and it’s even hit the tree farms hard over there,” Mingo said. “Anyone that didn’t spray has it and some of them can’t sell their trees.”

Morrill Worcester of Worcester Wreaths in Harrington said he has seen some twig aphid damage, but it hasn’t been a huge problem. Worcester said his company purchases more than 1 million pounds of brush from all over the state.

“It seems like it happens every four or five years,” said Worcester of the twig aphid infestation. “It is there. You’ve just got to be careful.”

Henry Trial of the Maine Forest Service said the balsam twig damage was severe statewide in 1993, but this year the consensus seems to be that it is confined to a few hard areas. The farther Down East you go, particularly in the Calais area, the worse it seems to be, Trial said. The outbreak is also spotty, he said.

“You can get a bad area and you walk 25 yards down the road and it is nonexistent,” Trial said.

Maine Forest Service entomologist Don Ouellette said the prevalence of balsam twig aphids runs in cycles. It is around all the time, just more some years than others, he said.

“It’s going to be more noticeable on plantations,” he said, “but, if you have fir trees, you can probably find it in your yard.”

Ouellette said the balsam twig aphid sucks the juice out of the new growth, then secretes a syrupy, sticky substance known as “honeydew.” People who park their cars under heavily infested trees will find the honeydew on their vehicles, although many think it is sap from the tree, he said.