Hi all,

I continue to following  updates on the Ambrosia beetle.
This article caught my attention as it like they may be on to something.

A quick summary:
Beetles are active at different times of the year.
Beetles are most likely to attack health trees in the spring.
Beetles are attracted to ethanol (wood alcohol)  See traps
Trees that are over watered will product trace amount of wood alcohol.
Over watering is more likely in spring and trees often show no symptoms of over watering.

Link is below.

http://www.amerinursery.com/print-9444.aspx

Happy growing.
Sharon

Very interesting and informative.
Thank you for posting this, Sharon.
Maybe knowledge of their behavior is the ultimate weapon.

Very interesting information and serious enough for all of us to take notice. Thanks for posting and please keep us updated.

There are a number of sites which give instructions for building traps but I would not put my traps anywhere near my trees.  The trap is really to see when the beetles are becoming active.
I wonder if planting on a slope would help with the drainage?  That or using a raised bed to keep some of the roots out of the water in a wet spring.  I did raised bed tomatoes one year and my plants did great where everyone else lost the plants to a blight of some sort.  Of course the disadvantage was I watered more but I think the trees would send there roots deep into the ground.
More things to try.  Life is never dull.

Very useful info! Thanks Sharon!!!

For what it's worth, I also read the info about putting traps out for monitoring purposes.  But in my case last spring, it was not a question of worrying about luring them in from somewhere else.  I was at ground zero!!  The were everywhere -- in my firewood piles and in the oak trees around my yard (and neighborhood) (and town) (and state!).  I had all my trees in containers grouped in one area.  I put out traps to try to lure them away from my trees, and I put out traps as a defensive measure right around the trees.  They really worked.  I caught ambrosia beetles by the 10s of thousands!
...ugh, it's the stuff of nightmares!!!
Jim

What I've learned is to NOT use any bamboo what so ever. And yes the alcohol draws them. When you prune your trees, seal the cut. I seal my trees with wood glue and sometimes prune sealer. They got into a few of my trees last year. I chopped the trees down to ground level and this year those hit came back in full force.

Dennis,
  Yes, I also found some in a bamboo stake I got with a fig tree from a nursery.  I can't say for sure if they came with the bamboo from the nursery or if they moved in afterward, but they were there.  Having said that, that certainly wasn't what caused the trouble in my yard -- they are pretty well established in NJ and probably have been around for years. 
  I'll be putting out my monitoring traps early next year.  Hopefully it won't be a cold, wet spring like 2014.  Due to the cold and the ambrosia beetles, most of my figs didn't make it out until June -- and that's just not right!!!!
Jim

what does the beetle look like got me worried

After reading about this pest over the past 2 years I have, for the first time, started to see damage to my own fig trees in the past few days. Ambrosia beetles are definitely active in Maryland.   All the attacks have been on in-ground trees, all of which had at least a little bit of cold damage.  We have been getting lots and lots of rain and that, combined with stress from winter damage, may have made the trees targets for the beetles. I am in the process of moving and the new owners will inherit the affected trees. So far, the trees I have moved to the new place (mostly container trees and some transplanted in-ground trees) have not shown any issues. I will definitely set up traps and monitor the situation closely. I suggest everyone keep a close watch on their trees. Figs are not the trouble-free fruits they once were it seems.