Archive Nut, Prune and Olive Programs

Foxgloves, meet the European wool carder bee. European wool carder bee, meet the foxgloves. It's like "old home week" when these two get together. The plant (Digitalis purpurea) and the bee (Anthidium manicatum) are both native to Europe.

Just when you thought we knew all the devastating pests of avocado, along comes another one, this showing up in the Piru area of Ventura County - bagrada bug. The infestation is in huge numbers covering the stems and leaves of the tree, leaving fecal droppings on the backsides of leaves.

Mr. Al Ruozi of Interstate Manufacturing received the Conservation Tillage Workgroup's Award for Industry Innovation in 2005.

We've trained puppies to "come," "sit" and "heel." We've trained an African grey parrot to say "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty! Meow!" We've trained the kitty to ignore the parrot. But how do you train a praying mantis? You don't.

This is a story about phone calls that come in to my message machine. Yesterday I got 3 calls from PCAs (Pest Control Advisors) and two from growers.

It's no secret that honey bees like the sugar/water mixture in hummingbird feeders. If there's no bee guard on the feeder or if the feeder isn't bee-proofed, bees will sip the mixture. They also will lick the spills. A sudden gust that sways or upends the feeder is "bee happy time.

Joe DiTomaso & Josh Davy (UCCE) and Kirk Davies & Brenda Smith (Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center) are also authors on this masterpiece. It's available through the Weed-RIC website, or go directly to it at http://wric.ucdavis.edu/publications/MedusaheadManagementGuide_pub_2014.

Last week I got two calls regarding unusual symptoms starting to appear on ripening rice plants. In both cases, the symptoms were described as medium sized round patches turning reddish or orange. Close inspection of plants showed typical symptoms of K deficiency.

The 2014 National Allium Research Conference will be held in conjunction with the National Onion Association annual meeting at Scottsdale, Arizona during December 3 5, followed by the W2008 Regional Research and Extension Committee meeting on December 6.

In this issue... Trick Or Treat So Others Can Eat, SLC Wrap-up, Water Policy, Horse Fair Results, New Leader Trainings and much more...