Ongoing research

The world's "100 Most Endangered Species" are back in the news again, and well they should be.

Countywide projects offered, Craft Expo announced, 4-H Council Meeting...

With apologies to Deborah Rabinowitz. (Seven Forms of Rarity, 1981) There are many different ways of being a pest. Some of the easiest ways are to use large bulldozers next to an office building, or have a computer virus send spam to every person on earth with an email address.

Japanese millet is not a weed of rice in our area. However, a PCA recently noticed it in an organic rice field. Japanese millet is in the same genus as our common watergrasses, and looks similar, but is much more robust. It seems to grow well under flooded and dry conditions.

American fire as of 8-25-13.Fire Status from Incident Report: The south, west and north perimeters of the fire remain in patrol status. This is due to completion of fire lines and minimal to no hot spots being detected inside the fire line in these areas.

If you want to learn about bees--and learn it from the experts--The Bee Course is the place to be. It's an annual workshop held at the Southwestern Research Station (SWRS) in Portal, Ariz.

As of 8-22-13 - American fire moves into treatment area.Fire Status from Incident Report: Crews continued to mop up on the west and north sides ofthe fire to prevent any fire from potential hotspots from crossing established containment lines. This area will be patrolled by airresources today.

Iron chlorosis is an off duck. Soil is basically iron with some aluminum, silicon and oxygen added in for good measure, but plants can lack for iron because it is not available to be taken up.

Its good to see so many childrens books being published about bees. One of the latest ones is Buzz About Bees (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) by former elementary school teacher Kari-Lynn Winters, who asked forand receivedone of my photos of beekeeper Brian Fishback of Wilton wearing a bee beard.

Aah, is there anything more beautiful than pipevine swallowtails nectaring on the rosy pink blossoms of Jupiter's Beard?