- Author: Stephanie Parreira
National Honey Bee Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of every August. This year it falls on Saturday the 19th. If you use integrated pest management, or IPM, you are probably aware that it can solve pest problems and reduce the use of pesticides that harm beneficial insects, including honey bees. But did you know that it is also used to manage pests that live inside honey bee colonies? In this timely podcast below, Elina Niño, UC Cooperative Extension apiculture extension specialist, discusses the most serious pests of honey bees, how beekeepers manage them to keep their colonies alive, and...
- Author: Iqbal Pittalwala
UC Riverside study shows soils once submerged under the sea and airborne particulate matter are high in sodium and selenium
Scientists at UC Riverside investigating the composition of particulate matter (PM) and its sources at the Salton Sea have found that this shrinking lake in Southern California is exposing large areas of dry lakebed, called playa, that are acting as new dust sources with the potential to impact human health.
“Playas have a high potential to act as dust sources because playa surfaces often lack vegetation,” said
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The incurable citrus tree disease huanglongbing, or HLB, has been detected in Los Angeles and Orange counties and most recently in Riverside. The citrus disease is spread from tree to tree by Asian citrus psyllids, the insects that move the bacteria that cause huanglongbing.
Citrus trees infected with huanglongbing develop mottled leaves and produce fruit that is misshapen, stays green and tastes bitter. There is no known treatment for the disease, which usually kills the tree within three to five years, according to UC Cooperative Extension specialist
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
With two magnifying loops around her neck and a truck stocked with vials and tools for insect collection, Joanne O'Sullivan scouts Ventura County citrus orchards every day. She walks the perimeter, examining newly emerging leaves and tapping branches with a PVC wand to bat pests onto her clipboard.
O'Sullivan is one of four scouts hired and trained by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists to carefully and continuously monitor citrus orchards for Asian citrus psyllid, an invasive pest in California that can spread the devastating huanglongbing disease.
In Florida, where the pest was left...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
For centuries, farmers have used all the colors of the rainbow to assess their orchards: The bright pink of blossoms in springtime, the vibrant green of heathy leaves, the red blush on fruit ready to harvest.
However, there are wavelengths beyond what a human eye can see that also provide valuable information about the crop – including tree vigor, plant stress, water use and fertilizer needs.
UC Cooperative Extension agricultural engineering advisor Ali Pourreza is peering into these previously invisible colorations to create a virtual orchard that will quickly, easily and inexpensively allow farmers and scientists to manage orchards for optimum...