Welcome!
Yellowstone Valley Tree Surgeons is a locally owned Billings, Montana business established in 1981. With three Certified arborists at your service, we provide professional tree trimming, shaping, and removal. We employ certified tree climbers and aerial truck operators. We also provide disease and insect management services that often require skilled diagnostics to determine the best treatment for your plants.
Treatment Options:
Certain formulations of Carbaryl, Permethrin, and Bifenthrin are registered for use to prevent attacks on trees. These sprays are applied to living trees in March - May to kill or deter attacking beetles. This preventive spray is quite effective through one Mountain Pine Beetle flight (one year). The downside to this method is the high toxicity levels. It needs to be applied by a commercial applicator with a high pressure sprayer to reach the tree tops.
Another method is to inject a chemical directly into the trunk of the tree controlling the insects as they emerge from the tree or feed under the bark. This chemical is called Inject-A-Cide and it can be used anytime from early Spring thru October. It needs to be applied by a commercial applicator. The downside to this method is the short 30 day effective time period, unlike the sprays mentioned above that last a whole season.
Verbenone is a safe method that can be purchased and applied by homeowners. It is mixed with other substances so that it will be released into the air over several weeks, thereby repelling and confusing beetles looking for trees for reproduction.The downside to this method is it lasts less than 100 days and repels fewer insects than the sprays or injections. Timing is very critical, with late June being the best time.
More Detail on Treatment Options