Bean Weevil

[skye1974]

My small broad bean plants are being munched by pesky bean weevils leaving a notch effect all around the leaves. The plants are about 6 weeks old and have been in the allotment for about 4 weeks. Do I need to get rid of these little pests or are my plants past any threat they might cause?
Thanks, Skye.

[DavidT]

Are you sure it`s bean weevil, Skye? Any chance of some pics?

[skye1974]

Hi David, yes, pretty sure having looked up all the tell tale signs on the internet. I'll take some pictures while I'm at the allotment later.

[Lez]

Hello all, from your description you have bean weevil. We suffer it here and short of using chemicals they are hard to get rid of in fact I'm not sure if there is a chemical aid. I have heard that they jump so if you pass a sticky trap over the top it will reduce numbers but not eradicate them. If your plants are healthy and strong they should survive without to much detriment or effect to cropping. It looks more unsightly than anything. As the beans grow they toughen up and are not so tasty to weevils. Hope this helps you and your beans should be ok I think.

[skye1974]

Thanks Lez, I hope they'll be OK, they seem to be growing well so far.
We took on an allotment last October which had previously been wasteland so who knows what creepy crawlies were living in the undergrowth!

[Lez]

Sky if you have taken new ground then all sorts will be around for a couple of years. they say that turning the soil exposes the bugs to frost in winter aswell as birds etc. I do wonder about no dig systems as the bugs must be there all the time and with no disturbance will multiply like wildfire. still we can but try. good luck for the new season.

[skye1974]

Thanks Lez, we tried the 'double digging' method in October when we got the allotment and left the soil in large lumps for the frost and snow to break down, which did the trick with most of it. We've got a large patch of clay-heavy soil in the middle of the plot but we put in 4 rows of potatoes there and they seem to be doing ok at the moment. Fingers crossed we don't get any other nasties!