Japanese Beetles in Your Pool? Here’s What to Do
If you are a gardener, you may have noticed these summer visitors eating everything and piled up on one another. If you have a pool, you may have noticed they are terrific swimmers. If you have Japanese beetles in your swimming pool, here’s what to do.
Let’s look at how to handle these pesky insects.
What are Japanese Beetles?
These bugs are considered an invasive species and were imported on the roots of plants from Japan in the early 1900s. They are a common pest in Kansas during the summer. From June through August, they appear to eat about anything they can land on. In the fall, winter, and spring, they are grubs in your lawn.
These beetles are easy to spot with their oval-shaped, metallic green bodies and copper bronze wings. When they are on your plants, they are often clustered very closely together. They also fly.
Most importantly, they can swim and get into your swimming pool.
It is very difficult to control Japanese beetles, and many gardeners in our area are very frustrated! But you don’t need to be if they get into your pool. Let’s look at how to get rid of them.
Keeping Them Out of the Pool
It seems that Japanese beetles are attracted to swimming pools because they contain warm water and can be a food source. The best way to keep them out of your pool is to keep your pool meticulously clean and empty your skimmer baskets every day. You also want to brush and vacuum your pool often.
Maintain your chlorine levels at the proper amount. Keep plants and green living things out of your swimming pool. You can also keep plants away from your pool so the beetles don’t accidentally fall in.
If you have an infestation in your yard, you could cover your pool when not in use and until you’ve controlled the Japanese beetle population.
Keeping Them Out of Your Garden Areas
Ridding your plants of Japanese beetles isn’t quite as easy, but if you keep them out of your yard, they’ll also stay out of your pool.
First, you don’t want to use chemical pesticides that are dangerous to bees and other pollinators. Why worry about this? Well, pollinators often like the same plants the beetles do. But we need pollinators for our flowers and vegetable production. So, here are the best steps for getting rid of the beetles:
- Your best bet is to pick them off by hand. You can knock them into a bowl filled with water and Dawn dish soap. This kills the beetles. You can also put this mixture into a spray bottle, and that kills them as well.
- Spray Neem oil on your plants. This isn’t an immediate fix, though.
- As a last resort, you can use Spinosad. While this is an organic chemical, don’t spray it when the bees are active.
To Conclude
If you have questions or other pests in your swimming pool, be sure and contact us. We’d love to help you solve your pool problems! Let’s go swimming, Wichita!
