The sad and tragic case that occurred two days ago in Tiberias, in which 66-year-old Anna Rimburg was killed, in front of her family, when a palm tree suddenly collapsed on her, raises questions about palm trees in Israel in general, and of course, also about palm trees throughout Haifa, the Kiryat and the surrounding area.
Saying right away that I do not know what caused the palm tree in Tiberias to collapse like that, I did not examine it and therefore, I can only speculate. But as I said, this raises questions about the condition of the trees in Israel and in the Haifa area, which I have surveyed over the years.
A beautiful and deadly bug
A possible and well-known reason that causes palm trees to collapse (and again, I don't know the tree in Tiberias) is when the tree is damaged by an invading beetle, beautiful to look at, but deadly to the trees, the beetle's name - The palm weevil.
The palm thistle came to us, apparently, from one of the Arab countries. This invader penetrates the trunk of the tree from the upper part, and its larvae, as seen in the picture, are equipped with strong jaws. They eat the core of the palm and weaken the tree which loses its core and becomes hollow, crumbled and very weak.
Following a survey I conducted in several gardens throughout the Kiryat several years ago, when I examined palm trees about 2 to 3 meters high, it became clear to me that with a few strong kicks, infected tree trunks simply snap.
How did I even get to inspect the trees? A complaint from a woman who contacted me and lives in a house near one of the trees, who reported that she hears strange noises from the tree, reminiscent of a kind of grinding. Another description of hers was that the noise was similar to the sound of stepping on kernel shells, according to her.
After an examination, it became clear that the same tree was severely infected, and its trunk was already extremely full of larvae, pupae and also young beetles that had just emerged from the pupa. Some of them flew away within a few minutes. Just to explain the ear, when we hold the caterpillar in our hand, we can feel the power of the jaws in its bite.
Due to the fact that the centipede is already here, like the fire ant or Olivia, they also invaded us from other places, it is necessary to consider, even before the beginning of winter, which will bring with it the strong winds and storms, to cut the damaged palm trees, to prevent their collapse and to prevent a disaster, i.e. - Personal injury or damage to property.
A damaged tree can be easily identified. A damaged tree, as you can see in the pictures, its branches are folded down and do not stand up like the branches of a healthy tree.
There have already been cases in the past, that after such damaged trees were cut down, the municipality rushed and replanted trees in Kiryat Haim, also palm trees. I argue that this is a mistake. The existing situation must be taken into account: strong storms in winter, various invaders, both at sea and on land, and one must live alongside them wisely, that is, plant trees that are not palms. It is already known that the thrips is here and it will stay, it is already known that it attacks the palm and causes significant damage that may even be dangerous. There are also other trees that are not palms and do not serve as a target for these invaders, at least as of now.
The migration of the palm weevil is part of the global migration of invasive species from place to place, which we also discussed in previous articles.
In any case, if you come across a palm tree that looks damaged, report it to the municipality who will take care of it.
The tree is not pruned correctly leaving a thin middle and a head with huge branches the weight of the upper part just breaks. Unfortunately it seems as if they are doing it on purpose and there is no doubt that within a few years all the palm trees in Kiryat Haim will fall on people's heads and unfortunately there are many in public playgrounds in the city... Bring in an expert to check what is being done and how to properly prune the tree before it happens a lot... very sad!
Well done to you Motty Mendelsohn. Shabbat Shalom.
Very interesting article... And the question is whether the palm weevil that does not find a palm - does it also settle in other trees such as azadrach and more..
I wish I had directly addressed the interior visitors in Kiryat and Haifa. And maybe that's how I wish they would listen to your advice not to plant palm trees despite their beauty
This is how the Mizrahi palms get knocked out and the Ashkenazi ones don't.
Oh, and another interesting point. It only attacks the "regular" palm and not the Washington palm.
Very harmful indeed, but not mysterious at all. She has been attacking for years
It is clear to anyone who is involved in copying trees, and to anyone who is involved in the treatment of trees that a tree that is not properly treated undergoes a kind of strain that weakens it and the result in the structure of the tree is clear. The tree in Tiberias broke and fell in an area where you can see that the tree has a type of scurf (narrowing in a certain place in the trunk), in palms such a phenomenon is known when palms are copied, in the first year of copying the tree is in the trunk and this is seen in the narrowing of the trunk, after that it is treated, fertilized and develops roots and then thickens, this is how it is created A weak sapwood that is prone to breaking from the weight of the landscape of the tree and the fruit on it.
The weevil thing is true, but the phenomenon is the fall of the seeds in the first trimester from the direction of the root and not the landscape. And when the infected palm has not been copied, a strong wind is needed to knock it down. Simply, Hitz in Tiberias broke at the weakest point in the trunk because of a strain (I assume because of the copying). You can see that the other trees are also in the same situation.
The origin of this rhizome is in Southeast Asia, and it came to Israel perhaps through the Arab countries, but it did not originate from there.
She is probably able to fly several tens of kilometers at night, so her spread in the Mediterranean basin was fast.
At this stage the species is mainly attracted to ornamental palms, and its impact on commercial plantations is still relatively marginal.
Unfortunately in the date palm you don't see preliminary signs of fallen branches like in the Canary way.
In most cases it will break and fall without warning as happened in the sad case in Tiberias!!!
The weevil mainly attacks the canary palm, hardly any other varieties
This beetle also came with infected furniture from the east, check it out!!!
You have to be careful with this furniture, and the owners of these stores are required to sterilize and disinfect the furniture before entering the country and taking it off the ships straight to disinfection, and only with an inspection permit will they be approved to bring it into the country and into the parking lots. This operation is quite partisan and uncontrolled
On 15/7/21 I met the weevil in my garden in Kiryat Shmuel and reported it to Moked 106 and explained that it is a regional hazard
And the authorities should be informed to take care of it, but the operator Shlomit decided to file a police complaint against me because I don't know how to take care of the following hazard
Yes, this is the way to deal with the hazard, unfortunately and unfortunately for the palms, this is the way
See what happened in Tiberias very badly
The palm is a weak tree even without a stem; Its roots are really not deep and in nature it grows in groups.
A strong storm on the coastal road could knock down the trees and ….. (that everyone completes).
In Haifa the weevil destroys the palms.
All other trees are destroyed by the municipality....
Excessive pruning of ficuses, eucalyptuses and pines everywhere.
Do not leave a drop of shadow!!! Impossible to walk down the street!!!
And the air pollution that the trees purify for us, thus increasing the level of morbidity, by excessive pruning of trees.
According to our driver, a driver from Russia, he said that they brought this cockroach into the country through the trees they brought from the forests. That's where he usually lives!
In Russian it is called: "Kroide"
On leaving Haifa before connecting to road 2 you see a row of infected palms towards the sea, all their leaves are dry.
Give them water instead of potatoes
You wrote well in the beginning, you have no idea what happened with the palm tree in Tiberias.
The palm weevil damages certain varieties and not all.
Trees are about to collapse and the municipality in Haifa wants money for the trees and also for the residents to fund a gardener!