Instructions for How to Use Verbenone

applying verbenone pouch with hundle hammer

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Pouches

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Splat
Paste

General Application of Verbenone:

For best results remove as many beetle infested trees as possible from the site prior to beetle emergence and deploying Verbenone.

ISCA Verbenone Pouch Instructions

Splat Verbenone Paste Instructions

Above: Jim demonstrates how to apply a single verbenone pouch to a tree using an easy-to-make Hundle Hammer that allows you to reach higher on the trunk.

Regardless of which type of Verbenone you employ it is of paramount importance that Verbenone be used as part of a multi-year integrated pest management program that also includes disposal of all infested trees on the area to be protected.

cut infested trees
cut infested trees

Tips for Keeping your Trees Protected:

  • Monitor you trees closely. Rusted tops can be sometimes seen as early as late September.
  • Watch for white pitch-outs where beetles have attacked.
  • Keep your trees healthy. Water thoroughly and regularly.
  • Remove green attack: trees that are carrying larvae but are not dead; this is critical to your success.
  • Dispose of infested trees properly. Burning or chipping is the most common.
  • Thin your trees. Reducing "basal area" (average amount of an area occupied by tree stems) to less than 100 sq ft per acre is recommended.
  • Use Verbenone each year to prevent recurrence.

* How to use ISCA Verbenone Pouches:

Verbenone applied to tree

ISCA Verbenone

Active Ingredient
4,6,6-trimethyl-bicyclo (3.1.1) hept-2-en-2-one*
96%
Other Ingredients 4%
Total 100%

*Each dispenser contains 7 grams of verbenone.
EPA Reg No: 56261-6
EPA Establishment No: 56261-CN-1

Note: The ISCA Mountain Pine Beetle Repellent is only available for purchase in the following States in the US: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Wyoming. For California, Please purchase SPLAT Verb.

An ISCA Verbenone pouch is an easy-to-use controlled-release dispenser that is hung on individual specimen trees or placed in a grid pattern when wanting to protect acreage.

Pouches release their scented contents more quickly as temperatures rise, and they are affected by sunlight. Beetles prefer dark, cool parts of the forest. Thus, place pouches approx 6-10' high on the north face of the tree (where there is more shade) and downwind of prevailing breezes so that the "plume" of pheromone will waft in the direction of the trees being protected.

DO NOT put the nail or tack through the center of the packet, as this will damage the integrity of the pouch, causing it to release its contents too quickly. There is a strip at the top of each pouch that is reinforced and provided for the nail to puncture.

Host Tree Stands: Stands and fallen pine trees, including: limber, loblolly, lodge-pole, pinyon, ponderosa, sugar, shortleaf, Virginia, western whitepine, white, whitebark, or pine trees of any species. Use on trees in forests; municipal and shade tree areas, recreational areas such as camp grounds, golf courses, parks and parkways; ornamental and shade tree plantings; suburban areas; and rights of way and other easements.

Pests: Verbenone is an anti-aggregation (repellent) pheromone specifically for the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae). It has been found to be only partially effective against southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis), western pine beetles, (Dendroctonus brevicomis), and other bark beetles. Verbenone Pouches deter attacks in tree stands and protect susceptible trees.

For best results remove as many beetle infested trees as possible from the site prior to beetle emergence and deploying Verbenone.

Calculate how many pouches of Verbenone are necessary.

Application Placement: In tree stands, place in a grid pattern by stapling individual pouches 6-12 feet above the ground on the North face of susceptible trees. Use a minimum of 20 pouches per acre. The product is most efficacious when less than 15% of mature pines are currently attacked and when combined with direct control tactics e.g sanitation harvesting or felling and burning of infested trees. Usual dispersal range is approximately 10 feet around the tree and 10' above and below the pouch, most concentrated in the direction of the prevailing breeze. Dispersal is fastest in warmer temperatures. Best placed on the shady side of the tree and upwind.

For individual un-infested, living trees, staple one pouch at maximum reach from the ground on the north face or two pouches (one at 6' and one at 12' above the ground) on the north face.

For protecting stands of trees, use at least one pouch every 25 feet in a perimeter surrounding the stand. Also place a Verbenone pouch on the North side of the largest tree. By encircling the stand and boosting the repellent on the most desirable tree, the pouches can be used in more economical fashion and may help to protect more than the one tree per pouch.

Verbenone is prescribed as part of a multi-faceted approach to mountain pine beetle management. No single treatment can totally prevent attacks. Additionally, preventative measures will need to be repeated each year or each flight season in areas with more than one season annually.

Treatment is usually site-specific, depending on such factors as proximity, size and rate of growth of an infestation, stand age and composition, aspect elevation, altitude, climate, local weather and integration with other control tactics. Inexperienced users are advised to seek guidance from a professional forest entomologist.

Surround your house or cabin

Surrounding your House or Cabin: We all have trees close to our house that are irreplaceable and important to the character of the house. We recommend that you protect the most important trees around your home in a spiral pattern, protecting the closest (and most valuable trees) first. Then spiral out protecting more as you get further from the house. That way, your most important trees are most heavily protected.



* How to Use Splat Verbenone Paste:

Splat Verbenone

ISCA Splat Verb

Active Ingredient
4,6,6-trimethyl-bicyclo (3.1.1) hept-3-en-2-one*
10%
Other Ingredients 90%
Total 100%

*Each SPLAT tube contains 75 grams of verbenone in paste and is equivalent to 7.5 grams of pheromone (AI) Active Ingredient per tree.
EPA Reg No: 80286-20
EPA Establishment No: 80286-CA-004

Note: The SPLAT Mountain Pine Beetle Repellent is available for use in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevade, New Mexico, Oregon, S.Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and California.

SPLAT Treatment Timing:

  • Splat should be applied at the same time that any of the other verbenone products are applied. SPLAT Verb is formulated to release biologically active quantities of verbenone over a period of 8 - 20 weeks. In many cases, this is enough to provide protection for an entire MPB flight period.

  • SPLAT Verb should be applied just prior to beetle flight season (when weather is reaching 60 degrees ambient temperature). In most HIGH elevation mountain state locations (over 8,000 feet), significant beetle flight begins end May - July 4. Under normal weather conditions, treatment below 5,000 feet elevation should be started April 15 - May 1. Lower, hotter deploys earlier. (Much lower elevations like the Okanagan Valley or Arizona mountains, and areas with hotter than normal temperatures, may need to deploy in April and may require a second (or even a 3rd) treatment in July, August or September.)

Don't wait to order enough repellent for a 2nd flight if you think it is possible. The manufacturers always curtail production before the end of the season, and you may find yourself without supplies. If you end up with an overage, SPLAT can be kept for the following season.

Apply dollops of Splat to your trees

SPLAT Application Instructions:

  • For Mountain Pine Beetles and individual, uninfested, living trees: Apply four 17.5 gram dollops of SPLAT VERB evenly spaced around the tree at 7-10 ft high just prior to beetle flight season (see above Timing).

    The large caulking gun can be purchased at most home improvement stores. To make it easy, these caulk guns have multiple settings. The proper dollop size is with the low force setting on the handle, and the red tab on top in the upward position. (Each dollop should be about 2 inches in diameter: about the size of a sandwich cookie - a fat oreo.) Or you could also use a food scale to test the size.  

  • Trees 6-12 inches in diameter usually require a 4-sided treatment. Very large diameter trees may require 6-8 dollops. Mtn Pine Beetles rarely fly higher into a tree than 20'. Each dollop protects an area of approximately 20' in diameter above & below the dollop and around the tree, most concentrated in the direction of the prevailing breeze. Because all four sides of the tree are treated, the halo of pheromones is 360 degrees. Dispersal is fastest in warmer temperatures.

  • In isolated stands, treat the largest tree. SPLAT produces a Halo Effect: a circular range of protection whereby all trees within 25 feet of an applied trees are protected. By encircling the stand and boosting the repellent on the most desirable tree, the product can be used in a more economical fashion and may help to protect more than the one tree per treatment.

  • If your trees may be attacked from unattended neighboring property, try to create a Verbenone barrier applied to a horseshoe-shaped buffer of un-infested trees at the advancing head of the infestation on the windward side of the trees (as described above) in a perimeter no more than 25 feet apart and boosting the protection on your largest trees.
Protect More Trees per treatment
  • For larger areas and stands of trees, apply up to 1.5 kilograms per acre (2 tubes). Apply SPLAT Verb to 10-20 trees per acre (2 tubes of product) at the rate of 75 - 115 grams per tree. Treat at least one tree every 25 feet in a perimeter surrounding the stand. Application must be evenly spaced throughout the acre.

  • Treating larger areas gives a geometrical advantage in so far as beetles repelled from the area try and fly out of the repellent-treated area, and the larger the treated area the more beetles are likely to exhaust and die during flight.

  • For areas larger than 5 acres, SPLAT Verb quickly becomes more cost effective than any other treatments.

Surround your house or cabin with SPLAT

Surrounding your House or Cabin: We all have trees close to our house that are irreplaceable and important to the character of the house. We recommend that you protect the most important trees around your home in a spiral pattern, protecting the closest (and most valuable trees) first. Then spiral out protecting more as you get further from the house. That way, your most important trees are most heavily protected.

Storage & Shelf Life:

  • SPLAT Verb is a ready-to-use, thick liquid formulation. However, it may harden if stored in a refrigerated area. It is recommended to allow at least 48 hours at room temperature for the SPLAT formulation to return to a workable consistency. Regardless of storage conditions, it is recommended to check the product 24 hours before application to see that it is about the consistency of tooth paste.

  • Unused SPLAT will last 2 years (or more) if refrigerated. For short term storage of less than 2 months, store in cool indoor area (or air-conditioned area if available). For long term storage of more than 2 months, store in refrigerator (do not store in freezer).

Treatment is usually site-specific, depending on such factors as proximity, size and rate of growth of an infestation, stand age and composition, aspect elevation, altitude, climate, local weather and integration with other control tactics. Inexperienced users are advised to seek guidance from a professional forest entomologist.

The product is most efficacious when less than 15% of mature pines are currently attacked and when combined with direct control tactics (e.g sanitation harvesting or felling and burning of infested trees.)

Verbenone is prescribed as part of a multi-faceted approach to mountain pine beetle management. No single treatment can totally prevent attacks. Additionally, preventative measures will need to be repeated each year or each flight season in areas with more than one season annually.

* If Used for IPS Beetles:

Slash and dead trees can invite more unwanted beetles

IPS are in the tips While MPB stay in the lower 20 feet of the trunk and prefer larger trees, IPS beetles like the smaller branches higher up and the ends of the branches. Their favorite spots are in slash and broken or raw wood.

The flight season is longer, as two to four generations of these beetles usually develop per year. Verbenone is only partially effective against ips beetles. The best combination treatment for ips pini is a combination of verbenone and ipsenol. However, no commercially developed application combination has been developed at this time.

Overwintering ips beetles begin emerging in spring as soon as daytime temperatures consistently reach 50 F to 60 F. However, timing can be difficult to determine since ips beetles can have multiple, overlapping generations and life cycles. (Use earlier and repeatedly through October.) The ABSOLUTE best practice to prevent ips beetles is to remove all slash, boughs, and limbs, (which attract ips beetles) immediately.

This product is for Forestry use only. Prior to use, open storage bag in a well-ventilated area and allow any accumulated vapour to vent.



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As low as $7.55/tree for pouches or $12.10/tree for SPLAT Verb Paste.