- Author: Sarah L Marsh
We are excited to announce the launch of a new rice podcast, "Thoughts on Rice", hosted by the UCCE Rice Advisors and found wherever you listen to podcasts.
This podcast is for growers, PCAs, consultants, and other industry professionals in the California rice industry. We'll primarily be focusing on the Sacramento Valley and Delta Region of California. We aim to deliver extension information relating to the California rice industry, but we are also looking for suggestions for topics that would be of interest to our stakeholders! Reach out to your local farm advisor for more information.
The podcast website can be found here.
- Author: Ben A Faber
Avocado Irrigation Workshop
September 3(Tuesday), 2024
1:00 – 4:00 P.M.
San Diego Farm Bureau
420 S Broadway, Escondido, CA 92025
Workshop registration link: Registration
1:00 - 4:00 p.m. |
|
1:00 |
Welcome |
1:05 |
Crop Water Use of Avocado Orchards – Ali Montazar, UCCE Irrigation and Water Management Advisor, San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside Counties |
1:35 |
The Other Uses of Water in Avocado Orchards – Ben Faber, UCCE Subtropical Crops Advisor, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties |
2:05 |
Salinity Management in Avocado Orchards – Khaled Bali, UCCE Irrigation Water Management Specialist, Kearney Agricultural Research & Extension Center |
Break: 10 mins. |
|
2:45 |
Soil Moisture Monitoring in Avocado Groves – Gary Bender, UCCE EmeritusSubtropical Horticulture Advisor, San Diego County |
3:15 |
Development and Evaluation of Pathogen and Salinity Resistant Avocado Rootstocks – Patricia Manosalva, Director of the Avocado Rootstock Breeding Program, University of California, Riverside |
3:45 |
Mission RCD WETA and Ag Irrigation Efficiency Programs – Jameson Meyst and Mia Lorence, Mission Resource Conservation District |
4:00 |
ADJOURN |
For more information about the workshop, please contact Ali Montazar, amontazar@ucanr.edu.
Pending CEU CREDITS: CCA (2.45 hrs.)
SDRILG (2.0 hrs.)
- Author: Julie Pramuk, UC Master Gardener of Napa County
For many years I've heard about carpenter bees, but this year my relationship with these amazing bees became close and personal.
On one side of our 100-year-old house is a peach tree that stands about seven feet tall in summer. The trunk curls around in a pleasing shape. But at one time, a substantial branch was cut, leaving a surface about six inches across.
While gardening under the tree one day, I spotted a large, fuzzy golden-orange bee wiggle into a hole in this sawed-off branch. I realized I was looking at a carpenter bee. After that, I stayed clear of the area, not knowing how friendly the bee might be. It might not appreciate me scuffling around under the branch, which was less than three feet from the ground.
Several days later, I saw a large pile of fresh sawdust on the other side of the cut-off branch. Hmm, I thought, there is definitely some serious carpentry happening here. A duplex, perhaps? I decided to find out more about my new neighbors.
The California carpenter bee (Xylocopa californica) is native to western North America. Carpenter bees are classified as long-tongued bees and are the largest native bees in the U.S. They are a hefty one inch long, oval, with six legs and antennae.
The carpenter bee receives its name from its nesting habit. It digs into wood—often a dead tree or fallen log—to make a nest. The bees prefer softer, older wood, but in urban areas, they will also make a home in new construction wood. The bee makes its nest by creating long, double-ended passages in the limbs of trees, just as I saw it doing in my peach tree.
The female carpenter bee is solid black, while the male is commonly known as the “teddy bear bee” because of its fuzzy orange exterior and gold-green eyes. The male does not sting and is rarely seen. The female stings, however, and the result can be painful.
Male and female carpenter bees have different jobs. The sole responsibility of the female is to excavate a series of tunnels using her powerful mandibles to make a home for her offspring. Tunnel entrances are about ½-inch in diameter, just big enough for the bee to enter. The tunnel interior may be an inch in diameter.
After she completes the tunneling, the female will create six to eight individual cells. She provisions each cell with a ball of bee bread, consisting of pollen and nectar. She will lay her eggs in the cells, then seal off the tunnel with sawdust. Eggs hatch and reach adulthood in about seven weeks. The adults remain in the nest for several weeks before digging their way out in the fall.
Females lay eggs only once a year. The new generation emerges in April and May and repeats this cycle. Carpenter bees may return to the same nest for many generations, expanding and renovating the nest year after year.
The objective of the male bee is to attract the female. The male lingers near a non-flowering plant, often near a food source, and releases sweet-smelling pheromones that lure the opposite sex. The male carpenter bee is always on the defense; after mating, its main job is to protect the nest. Although it does not have a stinger, its larger size and aggressive nature help it ward off unwanted visitors.
Carpenter bees may be a nuisance, but they are important pollinators. Approximately 15 percent of our state's crops are pollinated by native bees.
Robbin Thorp, an emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis before his death in 2019, was a renowned bee expert. He cited carpenter bees as important pollinators of crops such as passion fruit, blueberries, melon, tomatoes, and eggplant. “They may even pollinate flowers while ‘nectar robbing' from them,” he wrote.
The carpenter bee's practice of tunneling into wood is an initial step in the recycling process in natural communities.
We can encourage carpenter bees by creating nesting sites in our yards. All it takes is a few materials, such as wooden logs, boards, or blocks. Planting nectar plants that provide food in each season will help them survive in an urban environment.
The bees' nest doesn't take up much real estate in my yard. I look forward to watching them remodel the home next year.
Workshop: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for “Growing Cool-Season Vegetables” on Saturday, August 10, from 10 am to noon, at University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. From lettuce and carrots to more exotic greens and vegetables, many delicious choices await the fall and winter gardener. This hands-on workshop provides growing tips from planning and planting to harvest and into the kitchen. Register here.
Workshop: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for “Growing Cool-Season Vegetables” on Sunday, August 18, from 2 pm to 4 pm, at Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. From lettuce and carrots to more exotic greens and vegetables, many delicious choices await the fall and winter gardener. This hands-on workshop provides growing tips from planning and planting to harvest and into the kitchen. Register through Yountville Parks and Recreation.After clicking the link, find the registration page at
Adult Activity > UC Master Gardeners > Fall & Winter Gardening.
Fall Faire: Join the UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for an entertaining and educational event on Saturday, September 28, from 1 pm to 4 pm, outdoors at University of California Cooperative Extension, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. Enjoy exhibits on composting, monarch butterflies, succulents, water conservation, bees and more. The program includes activities for kids, a scarecrow contest, giveaways, and music. Admission is free.
Help Desk: The Master Gardener Help Desk is available to answer your garden questions on Mondays and Fridays from 10 am until 1 pm at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa. Or send your questions to mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. Include your name, address, phone number and a brief description.
Become a Master Gardener Volunteer: UC Master Gardeners of Napa County is now accepting applications for the Class of 2025. Visit napamg.ucanr.edu to read the informational brochure, then register to attend a mandatory information session for applicants. Application deadline is 5 pm on September 25.
- Author: Angela Tipsey
Financial Management Series for Volunteers
This series gives you the skills and knowledge needed to handle the financial aspects of 4-H Youth Development Programs. You'll learn about:
- Financial management basics
- Setting up and authorizing bank accounts
- Planning, fundraising, and managing resources
- Handling gifts, scholarships, animals, and firearms as gifts
- Financial reporting and compliance
- Responsibilities of 4-H Unit and VMO Treasurers
- Managing excess funds, disbursements, taxes, and property.
This series is designed for California 4-H adult volunteers with financial roles, such as Club Leaders, VMO Treasurers, and Treasurer Advisors.
*New modules will be added throughout the 2024–25 program year. You'll receive a certificate and badge after completing all 7 modules.
https://campus.extension.org/course/view.php?id=2570
Message the office for the enrollment key.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Those attending the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent Moth Night learned all about silkworms, moths, cocoons and textiles at a display staffed by Michael "Mike" Pitcairn, a retired senior environmental scientist/supervisor with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Mulberry silk production originated in China at least 5000 years ago. Folklore indicates that the wife of a Chinese emperor watched a cocoon fall from a mulberry tree into her teacup. She reportedly watched the cocoon unravel, revealing a long delicate thread. She collected thousands of the threads and made a robe for the emperor.
Biology Professor Richard Peigler of University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, donated the items to the Bohart Museum in 2020, said UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey, former director of the Bohart. "What's cool about it is," she said, "is that the silk pieces were made from silk produced by multiple silk moth species, not just the one we think of commercially."
The mulberry moth is the primary producer of silk. Tussah is the most well known of the wild silks.
Peigler has worked extensively with wild silk moths, studying their phylogeny, taxonomy and biology. His donations comprise the Wild Silks collection at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida.
"Wild silk is not nearly as luxurious as domestic silk found in today's clothing industry," the McGuire Center website relates. "This is raw, rough, and textured silk which feels almost paper-like to the human touch. This silk is harvested from the cocoons of various silk moths that encounter little to no human interaction. The practice of producing silk – termed sericulture, stretches back 5 millennia, and astonishingly, is a craft performed to this very day."
They included a woman's chaddar (head covering and shawl) and tablecloths.
Eri Silk (Samia ricini). Displayed was a woman's chaddar of 100 percent eri silk (Samia ricini), handwoven in Assam, India, and of naturally colored yarn. The brocade was done in traditional Assamese motifs. Women in rural villages in Northeast India wear these traditional shawls in winter. Peigler bought the chaddar for $47 from a seller in India in 2019.
Tussah Silk (Antheraea pernyi). Displayed was an antique tablecloth of tussah silk, handwoven in China in the 1920s or 1930s. The tablecloth, hand-reeled and in the natural beige color, is hand-embroidered with mulberry silk (Bombx mori). China has exported thousands of tablecloths and handkerchiefs made of tussah silk (called "pongee" or "Shantng silk") to the United States and the United Kingdom. Peigler purchased this tablecloth in April 2019 from an internet seller in Mount Dora, Fla., for $35.
Also of interest was a sample of tussah silk fabric in a pattern called "Honeycomb," mimicking the hexagonal cells in a bee colony. "The yarns were machine spun and the fabric was machine woven," said Peigler, who purchased the fabric from Oriental Silk Import Co. in Los Angeles for $32.95 per yard. There are several species of tussah silk moths (family Saturniidae) in China, India, Japan, Africa and North America.
Mulberry Silk (Bombx mori). Displayed was a tablecloth created in the early 1900s in China. "It was spun, woven and embroidered by hand," Peigler related.
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It also includes a live petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop. Director of the museum is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The Bohart Museum is open to walk-in visitors on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4:30 p.m. through Aug. 27. It will be closed to the public Sept. 1-22.
The next open house is set for 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28. The theme is "Museum ABC's: Arthropods, Bohart and Collecting." All open houses are free and family friendly. Parking is also free. For more information, contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or access the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.