Japanese beetles are a familiar and destructive summer-time pest. The beetles are chewers, and the list of host plants is very long. Once they have a foothold in your garden, it may seem like you are waging a never-ending battle to defend your property.

Like something out of science-fiction or a Marvel Comic book, there is a safe and very potent weapon in the war against Japanese beetles called milky spore. Produced to USDA standards, St. Gabriel Laboratories Milky Spore is the safest material ever developed for control over the larvae (grubs) of Japanese beetles; turf inoculations with milky spore puts in place an on-guard protective blanket on your lawn, lasting 10 years or more!

How does this super-defender of gardens work? Milky Spore is a naturally occurring host-specific bacterium (Bacillus popillae-Dutky) that is lethal to the white grubs of Japanese beetles. Sprinkle either the granules or powder over the lawn in a checkerboard pattern with the dispenser on unfrozen ground and allow rain or water to work the bacterium deep into the soil.

Considered the weakest link in the chain and the most vulnerable point to introduce an infection, resident spores in treated turf are swallowed by the grubs during their normal pattern of feeding. This starts the demise of healthy grubs. Milky Spore disease then begins to cripple the grub, and within the next 7-21 days will eventually die--but as the grub decomposes, it releases billions of new spores!

Milky spore is not harmful to beneficial insects, birds, bees, pets or humans. The product is approved and registered with the EPA, and St. Gabriel Laboratories Milky Spore will not affect wells, ponds or streams. Milky spore begins working as soon as it is applied as long as grubs are feeding.  Once grubs are infected, they will multiply the spore by several billion times and spread it further. 

How do you know you have Japanese beetles--other than the destruction they cause? The adult Japanese beetle is oblong with metallic green coloration and feeds on fruits, flowers, shrubs, garden plants and the foliage of some field crops. At the immature beetle stage, the grub lives in the soil where they enjoy feeding on the roots of grass, trees and shrubs, including the stems of plants; if you lift up the turf and see white halfmoon shaped larvae, you probably have an infestation.

The ideal way to combat area infestation is through organized community efforts. Large areas treated with milky spore can result in long term control.  In warm climates good control can occur in 1-3 years.  In colder areas like New England, 3-5 years.  Once established in a lawn, milky spore has been known to last 15 to 20 years.