Overview
- Forestry agencies report the season’s first major swarm flights in Thuringia and across Bavaria after a warm spell near 20°C.
- Landowners are urged to check last year’s hit stands and sun‑facing slopes and to fell and remove any infested trees immediately.
- Bavaria’s monitoring shows statewide activity in almost all elevations, with early hotspots in Upper Bavaria, Swabia and along the Jura escarpment.
- Spring dryness has already weakened shallow‑rooted spruce, which rely on resin to push out attacking beetles.
- In Baden‑Württemberg, researchers expect fewer cases overall, yet a belt from Zollernalbkreis through Rottweil to Ravensburg remains the most at risk.