Archive Nut, Prune and Olive Programs

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Wind and Rain: A Grower's Bane

January 5, 2016
By Ben A Faber
All the media are full of stories about the impending El Nino effects and possible flooding rains in California. As I write this, it is the day before our first significant storm (Jan. 4) with a 100% chance of rain throughout Ventura county for tomorrow.
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Beer for a Butterfly: Good News and Bad News

January 4, 2016
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's the status of the "Beer for a Butterfly" Contest? Do we have a winner? Well, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news: Art Shapiro found and collected a cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) on Jan.
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Bees be Not

January 4, 2016
By Ben A Faber
We hear about the decline in honeybees (non-native, from Europe and the most commonly managed bees), but native bees are declining too and in many instances these are the pollinators of California avocado. The loss of any pollinators is a loss for agriculture as well as the environment.
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Why Pollination and Pollinator Protection Are Important

January 1, 2016
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you haven't already seen it, you need to watch it. "Pollination and Protecting Pollinators" is a 51-minute documentary by Washington State University (WSU) Cooperative Extension that explores how valuable honey bees are, why they're crucial, and what we need to do to protect them.
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May the Buzz Be With You

December 31, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Did you feel the buzz in 2015? The honey bees, bumble bees, sunflower bees, sweat bees...what a year it was! It's time to walk down memory lane--or stray from the garden path--and post a few bee images from 2015. It wasn't all flowers and sunshine.
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Can't Get Enough of Those Gulf Frits

December 30, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
No matter how many we see or how often we see them, we can't get enough of the Gulf Frits. That would be the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), a brightly colored orangish-reddish butterfly with silver-spangled underwings.
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Celebrate Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 13 at UC Davis!

December 29, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Is your 2016 calendar up on the wall yet? Or are you calendaring everything on your smart phone? No matter how you keep track of your "things to do," how about setting aside Saturday, Feb. 13? The University of California, Davis has scheduled its fifth annual Biodiversity Museum Day from 9 a.m.
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