The Last Apples

 I brought in the last apples from my little Falstaff tree. Almost every apple this year has been damaged by critters, probably codling moth larva.............

The codling moth or codlin moth is a member of the Lepidopteran family Tortricidae. They are major pests to agricultural crops, mainly fruits such as apples and pears, and a codling moth larva is often called an "apple worm"

When BiL was here doing the hedge last week he tried one of the apples and wondered why I'd let so many fall off. I said I hadn't 'let' them fall off but they've gone bad from the inside out and fell off. I've been eating apples everyday and couldn't pick them for keeping due to their damage.

In our orchard at the smallholding we always hung  Codling moth traps and then painted the trunks with a ring of black sticky stuff to stop bugs crawling up the trunks. It didn't seem worth the expense here for five small trees and this is the first year there has been damage.

(Someone wondered if BiL was moving too. Had to laugh at that idea! He has only ever lived in two houses in his 67 years, a confirmed bachelor and very set in his ways. His Dad also only lived in the same two houses in his  80+ years. The house where he lived as a child, moving to a tied cottage on a farm when he married and back to the first house with the family when his parents died. Of course Colin was the same ..................... until he met me!)