Ongoing research

It's Thanksgiving. Count your blessings--and thank the bees. If your table includes pumpkin, cranberries, carrots, cucumbers, onions, apples, oranges, cherries, blueberries, grapefruit, persimmons, pomegranates, pears, sunflower seeds, and almonds, thank the bees for their pollination services.

Oh, if we could just engage in some menu planning and preparation! How often have you thought of that after watching praying mantids dine on honey bees, bumble bees, monarchs, Western tiger swallowtails and other beneficial insects? "Please don't eat the pollinators!" I plead, tongue in cheek.

Please join the San Benito Weed Management Area (WMA) for a free weed workshop. 2.5 hours of pesticide continuing education credit (including 1 hour of Laws and Regulations) have been approved by the Department of Pesticide Regulation.

They learned about sawtoothed grain beetles, carpet beetles and other pantry pests. They learned about walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas and praying mantids--all residents of the live petting zoo.

So you want to become a beekeeper...or you want to advance your apiary skills? Or maybe there's "keeper" in the family and you want to give him or her a gift certificate that will fit nicely under the Christmas tree? You're in good hands! The E.L. Nio Bee Lab at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

Two bills were signed into law that will affect vegetable growers in California. The minimum wage law will result in a $15/hour minimum wage will be phased in and take full effect in 2022.

On a recent trip to Florida we saw a dog in action locating avocado trees that had been attacked by the Redbay ambrosia beetle which carries the fungus Raffalea lauricola which is a similar pest/disease complex that is found in California with the Polyphagous/Kuroshio Shot Hole Borer and Fusarium Eu...

The latest National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) results are out for the citrus crop. These are results that are collected by the USDA to gauge production in the different growing areas of the country.

If you like honey and want to learn more about it, the place to bee on Sunday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Dec. 10 is the seventh annual Z Specialty Food Open House. It's scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in its warehouse, 1250-A Harter Ave., Woodland.

Check out the November 2016 issue of the Rice Notes newsletter.