We planted about two dozen raspberry plants when we moved here four years ago, and since then they have grown unfettered into a dense patch of thorny canes. Every year we look forward to juicy delicious berries, and every year we are crestfallen when we go to harvest and find them covered in tiny nasty black beetles.
So we've been neglecting the plants, letting the weeds grow, not trimming back old canes. This year we managed a meager harvest of about one quart of berries. Even these had to be quadruple rinsed before I felt comfortable 99% of the bugs were gone.
I've done a bit of googling, and have discovered that these beetles are called 'sap beetles'. The google says that these beetles only eat overripe fruit. Wrong! They eat all the fruit. The google also says that the best way to control them is to practice good sanitation - clean beds, trimming canes, frequent harvest of fruit, and picking up fallen fruit. Gah, who has time for that? Don't these people know how lazy I am?
Maybe we'll have to do things differently next year. Hopefully my hip is up to the task by then.
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