Q. I have 20 arborvitae trees in my backyard. This fall I’ve noticed I have a lot of bagworm nests. So far I have removed at least 60 of these nests. Prior years’ infestations have been very limited. Other than removing the nests, do you have any recommendations?

A. Bagworms are an unusual insect pest because the actual insect (a caterpillar) spends almost all of its life protected from potential predators in a conelike bag that it weaves for itself. At the moment, the “bags” contain eggs laid by the female bagworm that will hatch next spring. The young bagworms are very vulnerable at this stage but they will either remain on the host plant, or some will make little parachutes for themselves and be blown by the wind to end up on nearby plants. Spruce and arborvitae are most desired by b

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