- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"I have decided I do not want to be the queen bee because she never ever gets to smell the flowers!" the Petaluma resident said. "I would much rather be a worker bee! The queen bee has a short life which I have already avoided, of course, and plan on many more years in the garden."
Ettamarie, in her eighth decade, is a retired teacher who taught school for 37 years, has kept bees for 30 years, and has volunteered as the leader of a 4-H beekeeping project for the past 25 years.
A worker bee, she is!
The Vacaville Museum Children's Party, open to Vacaville children between the ages of 3 and 9, will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the museum courtyard at 213 Buck Ave., Vacaville. Tickets, limited to 250, are $3 for children (same price for adults accompanying them). Tickets must be purchased at the museum on Thursdays through Saturdays between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Coordinators Pamela King and Diana McLaughlin said the event, themed "Fun on the Farm," will include 4-H animals, a walk-around Mother Goose, face-painting, and a ring toss with a hobby horse named Trigger (the work of Peter Shull and Georganne Gebers), Among the many other activities, the youngsters will create sand art jars, craft paper crowns, plant seeds in a take-home container, and pose for photos behind a Bohart Museum of Entomology dogface butterfly cutout banner. Lunch, on the house, will include hog dogs, popcorn, chips, cookies and water.
But back to Ettamarie Peterson.
“I started beekeeping before I retired in 1998 from 37 years of teaching,” she said. “My teaching career was mostly in special education, following a few years teaching second and first grade. I became one of the first resource teachers in California back in 1980 after getting my master's degree in special education."
Active in the beekeeping industry, Ettamarie has served as president and treasurer of Sonoma County Beekeepers' Association (SCBA) "for many years" and edits the SCBA newsletter, The Monthly Extractor.
She loves "talking bees." She shows her glassed-in bee observation hive at schools and other venues. She collects swarms for her Liberty 4-H Club beekeepers. "I got involved in 4-H when my son wanted his daughters to learn how to keep bees,” she recalled. “They are both parents now so I am hoping to teach the three great-grandsons, too!"
Her interests also include bee photography, raising chickens, growing vegetables. and planting flowers “for the bees and butterflies. My granddaughter and I have a special garden in front of my house for bees and butterflies."
Ettamarie is also a longtime friend and supporter of UC Davis. She delivered a tribute to the late Eric Mussen (1946-2022), a 38-year California Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty.
She and her husband, Ray (a non-beekeeper), enjoy life on the Peterson Ranch. "We've been married for 65 years and have 3 children, 9 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren! What a wonderful life I have!”
Just don't call her a queen bee, please. She'd rather be a worker bee!
- Author: JD Trebec
When I first bought my home in central Woodland six years ago, there wasn't much in the yard to interest dragons: a mature orange tree that produced amazingly delicious navel oranges in the winter, a human-planted valley oak on the street out front, and squirrel-planted valley oak too close to my neighbor's fence line that looks ready to wallop my workshop. The rest of my small yard was Bermuda grass that burped up a fluffy clouds of invasive oxalis in the early spring and then reverted back to tired looking grass when the summer heat arrived. Nothing of interest, really, for a dragon. They aren't that interested in acorns or sorrel salad, and thankfully, they don't care for amazingly delicious oranges either because, of course, dragons are carnivores.
I quickly (well maybe not so quickly, it took a couple years) dug up and lasagna'ed the lawn and set up some garden beds and patches of native plants. It was only a few years after that that I started to spot the dragons: a flame skimmer resting on a corn stalk, a blue-eyed darner lurking among the peach leaves. This left me somewhat confused because I did not believe that dragons would be interested in my land-locked urban lot.
I'm talking about dragonflies of course and there are no bodies of water anywhere near me. Everyone knows that dragonflies are aquatic insects, right? How did they end up here? I wondered if they had blown in from Cache Creek somehow or maybe hitched a ride over from the Yolo Bypass. They didn't seem to stay long. It wasn't until recently when I saw about a half dozen of what appeared to be four-spot pennants darting and swooping about ten feet overhead in the early evening that I began to put it all together.
Dragonfly larvae are aquatic, but the adults certainly aren't, and with a cruising speed of about 16 kilometers per hour (10 mph), why wouldn't they stretch their wings and see the world? Just like birds or, closer to the mark, butterflies, many species of dragonflies migrate. While the migratory routes of butterflies like the Monarchs are well known, dragonfly movements are still something of a mystery. However, one of note, the appropriately named globe skimmer dragonfly, has been tracked from India to East Africa and over to Middle Asia, a total distance of 14,000 km (8,700 miles). https://india.mongabay.com/2021/11/high-flying-dragons-how-the-globe-skimmer-migrates-across-the-indian-ocean/
Like the Monarch butterfly, dragonfly migrations may take several generations as the insect swarms (I find the collective name ‘flight' more appropriate for dragonflies) follow a shifting path of ancestral pools. Some dragonfly flights follow the same flyways as hawks, and groups like the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory have added the occasional bug count to their seasonal observations of birds of prey. https://www.parksconservancy.org/park-e-ventures-article/smaller-winged-creatures-flying-through-headlands
I can't say for sure that the changes to my yard have inadvertently resulted in a bit of dragon habitat, but likely there are some additional tasty bug snacks now that merit a dragon flyby. I am happy to host them so long as they stick to eating mosquitoes, gnats, and any pests that are eyeballing my garden, and leave the oranges to me.
A Dragon(fly)! Blue-eyed darner (photos by JD Trebec)
and a Damsel(fly)! Arroyo bluet
Note: Accuracy of amateur insect identification may be questionable beyond the Genus level!
- Author: Kendra T Rose
Dear Colleagues,
1) The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS) Small Grant Program is seeking research proposals that address agricultural health and safety in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and/or Nevada. WCAHS welcomes applications on a wide range of topics relevant to agricultural health and safety. Proposals that identify an occupational health or safety issue that is attributable to the agricultural worksite, not general community exposures, will be prioritized. Projects that include collaboration with cooperative extension specialists, farm advisors, community-based organizations, farm labor contractors, and/or those that result in industry, community, and/or policy outputs are encouraged.
Visit the program web page at https://agcenter.ucdavis.edu/funding/small-grant-program for more information.
Proposal Due: August 05, 2024
Amount: $30,000
2) The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is accepting applications for the Conservation Partners Program. The Conservation Partners Program will fund projects that provide technical assistance to agricultural producers seeking to voluntarily adopt regenerative agriculture systems and conservation practices. Grant recipients will hire or support field conservation professionals to help producers develop and implement economically sound management practices that yield positive environmental outcomes.
Geographic Focus: For California, eligibility is limited to the Western Grazing Lands focus area.
Western Grazing Lands includes grasslands, shrublands, and pasturelands in the Western United States. Key objectives for this category include:
- Sustain and enhance conservation and economic values associated with working grasslands, pasturelands, and shrublands.
- Improve soil health and maximize soil carbon on grazing lands.
- Enhance habitat quality and connectivity for birds, pollinators, and other species that depend on grassland complexes in the region.
Priority strategies include grazing management and habitat enhancement. Special priority will be given to projects that conserve and restore intact grazing landscapes, reduce the expansion of conifers and exotic annual grasses, restore wet meadows and other mesic areas, and increase drought resilience of farm operations.
Visit the program web page at https://www.nfwf.org/programs/conservation-partners-program/conservation-partners-program-june-2024-request-proposals for more information.
Proposal Due: August 14, 2024
Amount: $200,000 to $1,000,000 (Average award $500,000)
Match: Not required, however, the ratio of matching contributions offered is one review criteria
Thank you.
ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)
- Author: Devii R Rao
Please join UCCE Fire Advisor Barb Satink Wolfson and a host of other partners to provide your input on a new San Benito County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
Date: July 17, 2024
Time: 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Location: 549 Mission Vineyard Rd., San Juan Bautista
Cost: Free, dinner provided
Click here for a pdf version of flyer or scroll down for a photo of the meeting flyer.
For more background on the event, please read the summary below from Barb Satink Wolfson.
Wildfires play an important role in natural systems and cultural practices. They can benefit ecosystems by promoting forest regeneration, increasing nutrient cycling, and maintaining biodiversity. Indigenous communities have relied on wildfires as a management tool for millennia, intentionally setting controlled fires to shape landscapes, support ecological balance, and reduce the accumulation of flammable materials. Historically, San Benito ranching families used fire to improve throughout the County. Currently, however, wildfires can cause destruction and damage to ecosystems, people, and property. One of the most useful tools for collaborative wildfire prevention and response are Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP). San Benito adopted its current CWPP in 2010. To develop an update to this plan, several partners have teamed together to identify the current needs and priorities of San Benito County.
A key element in the CWPP planning process is the discussion generated among community members regarding priorities for local fire protection and forest management. There will be a variety of community events to gather public feedback and discuss the updated CWPP. There is also an online survey available, which provides an opportunity to share community needs and priorities. The draft update will be available later in 2024 for public review and comment.
Wildfire Planning Community Mtg 7.17.24 SJB
- Author: Nanelle Jones-Sullivan
I grow “Dwarf Tomato Project” plants from seed each year because while they aren't widely available at stores, I can grow many plants with different fruit colors, shapes, sizes, and foliage in “self-watering” or sub-irrigation planters.
The plants have a thick central stem, compact growth, and dark green, crinkly, or “rugose” foliage. Even in June, before the fruit ripens, the foliage is attractive.
They may be regular or “potato leaf” plants. Regular leaves are multi-lobed, with serrated or tooth-like edges. Potato leaf plant leaves are not divided and have smooth edges.