Something is 'bug-ing' Christmas tree growers in New Brunswick
At Lo-Hi Christmas tree farm, the holiday season is all about creating family traditions.
"We want to have the families come, we want to have the different generations come, we're having trucks come now with a grandfather, and a father, and a little grandchild and some day we'll be selling that grandchild and their children their tree so we want to make it a positive experience,” said David Kirkpatrick, owner of Lo-Hi Christmas Tree Farm.
But this year before trees get trimmed they had to be screened.
"When people are at a few of the farms they're going to probably be notified by the farmer that there was a bug that went around this year, it's come and gone, it laid a little egg and went away and died, it'll come back again in about 12 years," Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick says the midge is just one of those secrets of nature where the conditions have to be just right.
Trees that were infected just need a couple of years to recuperate before you can bring them home to decorate.
"Our trees have it and other farmer's trees have it, we're just simply not cutting it and we'll give it a few years to recover, we'll move on," he said.
The bugs only appear every 12-15 years, typically following a drought year, such as 2020 in New Brunswick.
"They were here, they're gone, they're not going to be flying around your living room by no means.”
Kirkpatrick says not to worry, but get your tree early, the perfect one is out there for everyone.
"The perfect tree for my family is usually the one that's left over, at the end of the year we usually just put up a small tree every year people come to our house and say that's the tree you put up, but the perfect tree every year everybody's going to walk by and there's going to be one person that that's the perfect tree to."
Making sure you can still rock around your Christmas tree and have a happy holiday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."