SARASOTA – With Christmas drawing closer — several are flocking to get a last minute Christmas tree. But what if you’re bringing in some unwanted visitors home.
“My belief is that these are not ticks, they are called Cynara Bayfield. It is a not a tick, it’s not harmful but they’re aggravating pests,” says David Bird, a Christmas tree realtor.
Bird has been in the business of selling Christmas trees since the nineties. He says these outbreaks in bugs in Christmas trees are fairly new.
“The tree retailors need to talk to their growers and make sure these trees have been treated. It’s the growers; some of them are not willing to spend enough money to treat the trees in September/October to prevent this,” says Bird
He says trees are normally harvested a month or two before arriving to Florida. Passing a state inspection critters are still hiding in between the branches.
“They were dormant because of cold weather up there, and when they get in here in the warm weather they hatch, become active, and crawl around,” says Bird.
Though he has never found any bugs in his trees Bird has heard from customers complaining about other tree vendors in the area.
Before purchasing a holiday tree Bird suggests, “I would ask the relator ‘Do you know if this tree has been treated for Cynara Aphid?’ They can stick their hand in the tree and hold their hand up in the branches for a few moments and see if anything g crawl around on them.”
And if the bugs are found in your tree at home the best option Bird says is to call an exterminator.
“The Cynara Aphids is here to stay I think in North Carolina and I think it’ll be a continual problem to anyone who buys a tree from someone who’s grower has not treated the tree.”
