Question
my sycamore trees are dying in the top of the tree, green leaves are still about middle ways down the tree, is this tree dying, no leaves in the top at all, just dead looking limbs, and my silver maple tree has dropped all the leaves on it and looks like it is dying, this tree is aobut 17 or 18 years old at least, it does have looks like a ring of holes in the trunk of the tree, and I am in Georgia. We have had a drought going on , is there anyway I will be able to save these trees, a tree trimer came and looked and said there were some sort of beetles in my silver maples. thanks

Answer
I would not follow the advice of a tree trimmer. I would call the Ga. Forestry Commission office and ask one of their Foresters to come take a look at your trees. Sounds like most of the problem is the drought. Hardwoods will shut down during droughts and drop their leaves but it dose not necessarily mean the tree is dead. On hardwood this late in the year I would wait and see what happens next spring they more than likely will put out new leaves. The forester on the ground can determine if the tree is dead or not by scraping small bits of bark off the end of upper branches and if the color under the bark is green the branch is still alive and will re leaf. The line of holes sounds like sapsucker damage and usually these are not a problem.
Here is the web link to the Ga Forestry Commission county offices.

http://www.gfc.state.ga.us/ContactUs.cfm#CountyUnits