So I harvested my hops a few days ago. I never noticed aphids during the grow season, but after having the cones in paper bags inside my apartment for a couple days there was some sort of hatching and what seemed to be thousands of aphids came crawling out of the bags and all over my apartment. I took the bags outside and cleaned up my apt, but now what? Is there any way to get rid of these buggers? What will they do to the cones? Is my harvest gone?
Aphids in harvested hops
- Thread starter nickwin
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If you haven't dried the cones yet, you should probably do that as soon as possible before mold sets in and they're toast.
Aphids are sucking bugs, so if you can air-dry the cones quickly they should lose interest in them and wander off to find something juicy to feed on...
Cheers - and good luck!
Aphids are sucking bugs, so if you can air-dry the cones quickly they should lose interest in them and wander off to find something juicy to feed on...
Cheers - and good luck!
BBL_Brewer
Well-Known Member
I have aphids, they really don't seem to bother anything. I dry my hops in a dehydrator at a about 115F. After a few hours in the dryer, you can see them crawling all over the dehydrator. After about a day they disappear and the hops are good to go.
Well I was actually thinking I could dry them in the paper bags. I'm not talking about a ton of hops, I would estimate 3-5oz dried. I've got them in 6 lunch size paper bags each about 1/3 full. I shake the bags a couples time a day and keep a fan on them. I dried about 3/4oz of early hops this way and it worked fine. The bag absorbs some of the moister from the hops and kind of wicks it out. Maybe this is to much hops to dry this way though? Especially considering the aphid problem. I don't have a dehydrator, is that the best way to dry them? Could I put them in the oven at super low heat?
Regarding the aphids, there are quite a few on the bags, but not like it was last night. I am assuming there was some kind of hatching all at once and that was what I was seeing. The thought of eggs in my hops is pretty off putting though
Regarding the aphids, there are quite a few on the bags, but not like it was last night. I am assuming there was some kind of hatching all at once and that was what I was seeing. The thought of eggs in my hops is pretty off putting though
I had the same problem with willamettes and cascades. I put them in a large grocery store paper bag and set it in the sun for a few days. There was a disgusting amount of aphids, ladybug larvae and maggot looking things came crawling out. about 2/3rds of the dried hops were fine and I threw out the ones with dead bugs or mold in them. Unfortunately, I put a pound of wet cascades in the freezer to use this weekend but after seeing what crawled out during drying I don't want to use these in a beer with bugs still frozen in them. It probably would have no effect if they were used in the boil but its the thought of it. I don't want to throw them out because its more than half my cascade harvest and they smell awesome. I might just leave them until spring and my memory of how disgusting they are has faded. Has anyone done an aphid-hopped beer? do the bug pieces drop out with the break, floc out after ferment or leave a protein haze?
This keeps getting weirder and weirder! So what I thought were aphids covering the outside lip of the paper bags turned out to be eggs of this species:
http://www.natural-insect-control.com/product.php?id=000000267
they are called APHIDOLETES APHIDIMYZA and they eat aphids. apparently they can smell out aphid colony's by there pheromones and when they find them they lay there eggs near the colony. I've got the hops back in my apartment and these things are literately coming in through cracks in my windows! I can see them coating the outside of the windows. Its kind of freaking me out buts its pretty interesting at the same time. Its like a nat geo show in my living room lol
http://www.natural-insect-control.com/product.php?id=000000267
they are called APHIDOLETES APHIDIMYZA and they eat aphids. apparently they can smell out aphid colony's by there pheromones and when they find them they lay there eggs near the colony. I've got the hops back in my apartment and these things are literately coming in through cracks in my windows! I can see them coating the outside of the windows. Its kind of freaking me out buts its pretty interesting at the same time. Its like a nat geo show in my living room lol
I don't know what to add except, LOL and good luck?
Hey,
LOL I know protein in water makes it foamy - Maybe all that extra aphid "protein" will put an awesome head on your brew! And the aphid honeydew should sweeten it a bit!
I love threads like this one! LOL
LOL I know protein in water makes it foamy - Maybe all that extra aphid "protein" will put an awesome head on your brew! And the aphid honeydew should sweeten it a bit!
I love threads like this one! LOL
RoyalJack
New Member
Howdy,
I've got an organic hops farm and unless you spray, you get bugs, that is a part of the organic process. However, as has been stated, if you dry immediately upon picking and give them the opportunity, the aphids will depart your hops. If you don't have a dehydrator, then try using some kind of directed heat in a dry room. Even if it takes two days, you'll get your hops and they will naturally de-bug. Finally, microwave them for about 40 seconds before putting them into storage and you'll kill anything left. The rest the alcohol will kill and the protein will enhance.
Cheers,
J.R.
Royal Jack Hops
Ten Mile Creek, MT
I've got an organic hops farm and unless you spray, you get bugs, that is a part of the organic process. However, as has been stated, if you dry immediately upon picking and give them the opportunity, the aphids will depart your hops. If you don't have a dehydrator, then try using some kind of directed heat in a dry room. Even if it takes two days, you'll get your hops and they will naturally de-bug. Finally, microwave them for about 40 seconds before putting them into storage and you'll kill anything left. The rest the alcohol will kill and the protein will enhance.
Cheers,
J.R.
Royal Jack Hops
Ten Mile Creek, MT
Not to be too nitpicky, but they are probably not Aphidoletes aphidimyza, they are probably some other type of brachonid wasp (miniature wasp that bends it abdomen forward to sting other insects). Aphidoletes ssp. are commonly introduced in horticulture, but there are hundreds of native species that occur naturally. Not that it changes anything mind you, just letting everyone know.
Also, they do not eat aphids, they parisitize them. They will lay an egg inside of a juicy aphid, and the egg hatches into a larva which eats the aphid from the inside out. Rumor has it that the Aphidoletes lifecycle was the basis for the Aliens movies.
This video is in spanish, but the images are what is important.
Also, they do not eat aphids, they parisitize them. They will lay an egg inside of a juicy aphid, and the egg hatches into a larva which eats the aphid from the inside out. Rumor has it that the Aphidoletes lifecycle was the basis for the Aliens movies.
This video is in spanish, but the images are what is important.
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