New front opens against hemlock-killing pest

Eastern hemlocks are dying across eastern Pennsylvania. And the killer, the hemlock wolly adelgid, a tiny Asian import, is spreading westward. There are several strategies unfolding to deal with this critter that literally sucks the life out of hemlocks.

Spraying. Good for individual trees, especially those in suburban settings, but not cost-effective for natural stands.

A bettle, also of Asiatic origin, that eats adelgids.

And a new and still-unfolding method employing the dairy product whey and a fungus. The Burlington, Vt., Free Press has the story. A University of Vermont researcher is behind this new method.