If you, or your family and friends have palms in your landscape, be sure to check out the ANR blog post about the South American Palm Weevil and watch the entertaining, and informational video. For all of you foodies out there, be sure to watch until the end - YUMMY!

http://ucanr.edu/News/ANR_News_Blog/?blogpost=24432&blogasset=58743

Pollinator Week, June 19–25, 2017: Bee Knowledgeable!
—Stephanie Parreira, UC Statewide IPM Program

 

Bees are the most important pollinators of California agriculture—helping us grow field crops, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Honey bees receive most of the credit for crop pollination, but many other kinds of bees play an important role as well. There are 1600 species of bees in California! Take time during Pollinator Week to learn about the different kinds of bees and what you can do to help them flourish.

 

Why should I care about other kinds of bees?

Bees other than honey bees contribute significantly to crop pollination. For example, alfalfa pollination by alfalfa leafcutter bees is worth $7 billion per year in the United States. Other bees can also boost the result of honey bee pollination—in almond orchards, honey bees are more effective when orchard mason bees are present. The more bee species, the merrier the harvest!

 

While growers often rent honey bee colonies to pollinate their crops, some wild bees pollinate certain crops even better than honey bees do. For instance, bumble bees are more effective pollinators of tomato because they do something honey bees do not: they shake pollen out of flowers with a technique known as buzz pollination. Likewise, native squash bees are better pollinators of cucurbits—unlike honey bees, they start work earlier in the day, and males even sleep in flowers overnight.

 

How can I help honey bees and other bees?

When it comes to land management and pest management practices, some bees need more accommodations than others. That's why it is important to know what bees are present in your area and important to your crop, and plan for their needs. Use this bee monitoring guide from the University of California to identify the bees present on your farm.

 

You can help all kinds of bees by using integrated pest management (IPM). This means using nonchemical pest management methods (cultural, mechanical and biological control), monitoring for pests to determine whether a pesticide is needed, and choosing pesticides that are less toxic to bees whenever possible. Check out the UC IPM Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings to learn about the risks different pesticides pose to honey bees and other bees, and follow the Best Management Practices To Protect Bees From Pesticides.

 

Bees also need plenty of food to stay healthy and abundant. Plant flowers that provide nectar and pollen throughout the year. See the planting resources below to find out which plants provide year-round food for specific types of bees.

 

Like honey bees, native bees need nesting areas to thrive. Bumble bees, squash bees, and other bees nest underground. Ground-nesting bees may require modified tilling practices (such as tilling fields no more than 6 inches deep for squash bees) or no-till management to survive. For aboveground nesters like carpenter bees and mason bees, consider planting hedgerows or placing tunnel-filled wooden blocks around the field. See the habitat resources below for more information about native bee nesting in agricultural areas.

 

Enjoy your “beesearch!”

 

Bee Habitat Resources

• Habitat for Bees and Beneficials
• Managing Wild Bees for Crop Pollination
• Native Bee Nest Locations in Agricultural Landscapes
• Farming for Bees: Guidelines for Providing Native Bee Habitat on Farms
• Hedgerow Planting for Pollinators: Central Valley, Central Coast, Southern California
• Conservation Cover for Pollinators: Central Valley, Central Coast, Southern California
• The Integrated Crop Pollination Project: Tools for Growers

 

Sources

• Insect Pollinated Crops, Insect Pollinators and U.S. Agriculture: Trend Analysis of Aggregate Data for the Period 1992–2009.
• Native bees are a rich natural resource in urban California gardens. (PDF)
• Honey bees are more effective at pollinating almonds when other species of bees are present.

 

Do irrigation problems make you run for the hills? Interested in learning simple fixes before they turn into a major issue?

Join the UCCE Master Gardeners this coming Saturday, April 1st,  for a workshop on ‘Irrigation Basics'.

This class will teach you about irrigation valves, irrigation clocks, sprayheads, and general maintenance.

Participants will leave with a better knowledge about the delivery, conservation, and best water practices of landscape irrigation .

Workshop includes lecture and a hands on lab putting a mock system together from start to finish.

Time: 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Location: South Coast Research & Extension Center, 7601 Irvine Blvd. Irvine, 92618

Cost $20.00

Click here to register and pay online by March 31, 2017 or go to http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=20443

Each class is limited to the first 24 registrants.

Cancellation Policy: No refunds one week prior to workshop.

For more information about this and other upcoming workshops click here or go to http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/projects/events/?editon=1

Questions, contact us at: mgorange@ucanr.edu

Spring is here and often means more landscape pests such as weeds, ants, mosquitoes, etc. Before you reach for the pesticides, please read the following information:

National Poison Prevention Week—March 19-25, 2017

—Stephanie Parreira

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), poisoning is the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States, and 1073 people in California were poisoned by pesticides in 2014 alone. Each year since 1962, National Poison Prevention Week has taken place during the third week of March, to raise awareness about avoiding these tragedies. No one wants their workers or family members to experience illness or death from pesticide exposure, so the UC IPM Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) would like to bring special attention to preventing pesticide poisoning this week. The program also published a new edition of The Safe and Effective Use of Pesticidesin 2016, which contains a wealth of pesticide safety and hazard prevention information for people who work with pesticides.

 

Both agricultural and household pesticides can poison people if they are not properly handled. In agriculture, poisoning most often results from pesticide mixing and loading, and the most harm occurs due to spills, splashes and equipment failure. In the home, many pesticide poisoning incidents involve children swallowing pesticides, including garden products, disinfectant cleaners, or other chemicals used to control pests.

 

One of the most important things you can do to prevent pesticide poisoning is to follow the instructions on the pesticide label. Labels address critical information about how to use a pesticide safely, including the kind of personal protective equipment (PPE) you should wear to prevent overexposure, how much of the product to apply, the minimum time you must wait to enter the area after applying the pesticide (the restricted entry interval), and the minimum time that must pass between application and harvest (preharvest interval).

 

Labels also include important signal words such as “Danger,” “Warning,” or “Caution” that indicate how acutely toxic the chemical is to humans, as well as directions to avoid pesticide contamination of sensitive areas such as schools and hospitals. These instructions are meant to protect anyone who is at risk of being exposed to hazardous pesticide residues. It is essential to thoroughly read and understand the pesticide label before working with the pesticide, and to carefully comply with label instructions throughout the process. The UC IPM guide to Understanding Pesticide Labels for Making Proper Applications can help you do this, and is available in both English and Spanish.

 

If you apply pesticides in or around your home, be sure to store them properly and keep them out of the reach of children. Keep in mind that even mothballs may look like candy to very young children. It is illegal and unsafe to store pesticides in food or drink containers, which can easily fool people into consuming them and being poisoned. According to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, these mistakes caused 62 incidents of child poisoning from pesticide ingestion in California in 2014, and 47 of those cases involved children under six years of age.

 

To learn more about poisoning and how to prevent it, consider visiting the following resources:

Center for Disease Control and Prevention Leading Causes of Death Reports

California Poison Control

National Poison Prevention Week website

National Pesticide Information Center

UC IPM online course: Proper Pesticide Use to Avoid Illegal Residues