A lot of trees in the region seem to be putting down spots. There have been sticky droplets reported on picnic tables, decks, and cars. Jon Butcher with Madison Tree Care says it's not sap.
"It is honeydew, which is the excrement from insects that are eating the leaves and parts of the tree," he says. "Usually, aphids have what we've seen the most of this year. There's also been some scale as well."
The excrement turns black when mold starts to grow on it.
Butcher is a regular guest on Cincinnati Edition.
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He says it's all a natural process, but, there seems to be a lot more of it this year, and he's not sure why.
"There's some weird elevated level this year which I've not seen before, and I'm not sure why," he says. "We've always had this happen to some degree, but this year there's been an extraordinarily larger frequency of this happening on certain species of trees."
What can be done?
Butcher says he wouldn't necessarily recommend treating the trees, unless there's a bigger problem. "If you park your car right under this thing and it's just loaded, or it's right over your deck where you spend your evening, those may be trees that you'll want to treat."
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Butcher says it may be a little too late in the season for any treatment to do much good. "Most of the ones I've seen are slowing down if not stopped all the way," he says. "Certainly it's not going to go past when leaves start to fall off, but usually it'll stop before then."
Butcher says the honeydew can usually be removed from your property with a pressure washer.
