Ongoing research

If you've ever been to Angel Island or Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay, you may have seen them. Bumble bees. And sometimes if you're fishing in the Bay, a bumble bee may land on your boat.

UC's Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation (CASI) proposed the idea of creating a formal partnership with the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Water for Food Institute at a meeting May 29 with Water for Food executive director Roberto Lenton and senior research scientist Marc Andreini.

Don't miss the following event: The Aquatic Weed School 2012 is an intensive 2-day course focusing on issues associated with developing weed management strategies in a variety of aquatic ecosystems.

How much work does it take to get rid of a weed? Will I need to treat this population again next year? These are simple questions when managing weeds and the answer falls into a general pattern.

Ever seen honey bees engaging in washboarding? It's a behavior so named because they look as if they're scrubbing clothes on a washboard or scrubbing their home. It occurs near the entrance of the hive and only with worker bees. They go back and forth, back and forth, a kind of rocking movement.

Varroa mites, those pesky little parasites that suck the blood out of honey bees and spread multiple viruses, are now found throughout the world, except in Australia.

Fair information, Barn Charts, The 2012-13 Merit & All Star winners are announced, Volunteer Survey...

False chinch bug (Nysius sp.) infestation on strawberries (Photo by Sal Ponce, Pacific Coast Produce.

UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor David Doll is organizing a "Central San Joaquin Valley Summer Almond Field Day" on June 1, 2012. More info HERE or in the agenda at the bottom of this post.

A quick repost this morning of a recent Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) press release about online databases and smartphone apps for tracking invasive weeds.