Something is eating through my almonds every year. Size of a worm hole but never see any worms or insects

Question

Almonds have a hole in them while on the tree.  It will be every nut on the whole tree.  Hole size of a worm but never see any worms.  Kind of a sticky substance at the site of the hole.  What could this be?

Answer 1

the bug or worm is coming out at night time....this is an active nut tree....try making a mix of 1 teasp of liquid hand soap and water and spraying the tree...you will have to double or triple this....spray on and under the leaves and around the ground.  if it is crawling up the tree...you could use 3 inch wide tape on so the sticky side goes around the tree and the sticky sides meat and cross 1 inch over do 3 more lines....the worms & bugs will get caught then you can see what this is.  if this does not work....the you have to get sevin and check the directions to see if this tree is included on the list.  wear long old clothes, hat, mask, goggles & gloves.........keep children & pets away from this until dry.....in the fall do dormant oil as this smothers any eggs in the bark that has been laid.

Answer 2

If your tree is well established, i.e. several years old, it's possibly too big to spray effectively.

Don't use Sevin indiscriminantly!!!  It kills honeybees and beneficial insects!!!!

Tanke a branch and some of the nuts to your county ag office and ask them to diagnose the problem and make suggestions as to how to go about treating the tree.

Answer 3

Now it is spring time..............look at the dormant oil.............see if nut trees are on the list.................spray now and follow the directions on the bottle.................up to the bud that opens and then stop and spray the trunk..............you don't want to kill the bees, you need them for polination..............so plant flowers to draw the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  They like bright flowers.