Do Japanese beetle traps really work?

They do kill JP but you’re right, they also attract more of them with the bait.

move the bettle bag to the furthest corner of your property, (preferably far away from neighbor’s flowers/vegetables too)

Please don’t spray Sevin

OK. I’ll be good.

Spraying Sevin should not be such a worry of yours unless you are a 100% organic household. Chances are, if you’ve not sprayed it and your neighbors do not have the same problem then they have thus leaving your yard the one to party in.
I remember JB season while growing up in Northeast Ohio. My father and mother would have to switch those bags out almost daily. My brother and sister and I would always dare eachother to put our hand in to the bag (none of us ever did). I also remember it getting so bad some years that we just had to spray.
In high school I worked for a landscape designer and we sprayed Sevin and a few other chemicals on to flowers and plants to help save them. The beetles will destroy everything. I take it you are spraying a yard and not a crop or several acres. You are not going to leave harmful, trace amounts of Sevin whisping through the air as long as you are careful.

If you’re going to spray, please use something that is natural/organic

using harmful chemical pesticies which wash away into the soil and seep into our water is a concern to me

@judochop The plastic bottle is a seething mass of JBs. Disgusting!
I’ve got about 2000 sq ft of flowers and veggies and those buggers are on them like, well, like Japanese beetles on roses!
I will give the environmentally friendly method one week. If I don’t see a decline I’ll step up the firepower.

Don’t use Sevin. Take all those beetles you’ve captured and put them in the blender with some water. Blend into beetle soup and apply to your garden. I haven’t tried this because the idea of putting beetles in my blender is so gross, but other people swear by it.

There are a lot of organic bug sprays that will keep the beetles off your plants. They are so easy to find, you can even pick them up at Wal-Mart. Just make sure the one you buy works for beetles, and to do that you might be better off going to a gardening center where the employees actually know what they are doing.

As a little info, the beetle attractant will attract beetles from over 15 miles away.

Put it as far from anyone or anything on your property, preferably upwind, as you can.

@MissAusten Spraying Sevin in a controlled environment is not damaging. The over use of Sevin and spraying crops from an airplane is whats damaging. I’d rather have you come spray my bed down with Sevin than see anyone purchase anything from Wal-Mart. That is more damaging than one garden yard of Sevin.

@judochop I agree with you about Wal-Mart, I was just using it as an example of how easy it is to find organic gardening supplies these days.

Putting the dead beetles in the garden keeps the others away. The blender method is gross, but probably effective. The gardeners I know just crush the beetles and drop them right there.