Always use the least toxic pesticide available. Avoid treating for the balsam woolly adelgid during the summer. If lindane or Asana will be used, apply them from November through March when predators are not present. Many people depend on their pre-budbreak pesticide applications for the control of the balsam twig aphid to give season long SSM control. However, mite numbers can quickly increase with hot, dry weather even with a spring pesticide application.
Mite numbers can also decrease quickly with rainfall or predator activity.
Scout all Fraser fir fields from the year after planting through harvest to determine if mite numbers are great enough to damage trees. The number of times a field is scouted for mites depends on the size of the trees, the prevalence of SSM, and the weather through the growing season. For trees that do not receive a balsam twig aphid treatment, start scouting in mid-April. For trees that are treated for the balsam twig aphid, start scouting in early June. Continue scouting until the first hard freeze.