trees is really bugging retailers.

For both Bermuda General Agency Ltd. and Gorham's Ltd. will have to wait until their containers are fumigated by the Agriculture and Fisheries this morning before they know if the trees are fit to be sold.

Bermuda General Agency Ltd. president Ward Young said the company brought in 19 containers of Christmas trees affected with the bug.

Although the trees were sprayed in Canada, the pesky mites were discovered when the trees were inspected locally.

Mr. Young said the trees will be inspected again around 3 p.m. today after this morning's fumigation process.

He said he was not particularly concerned since the same problem cropped up two years ago and was properly resolved.

Assuming all goes well and the bug is destroyed, Mr. Young said the trees would be ready for sale by Wednesday morning.

Mr. Young stated: "We don't anticipate a problem...but the trees won't be released until they are safe and the bugs are dead.'' It also seems that two containers brought in by Gorham's Ltd. are suffering from the same blight.

Gorham's spokesperson Rod Ferguson said he was relying on information supplied by his tree buyer who he said was "on top of the situation''.

But Mr. Ferguson also expected that the fumigation would correct the problem, and noted that the shipment contained some "beautifully-shaped trees''.