Ongoing research

It's called the "Pride of Madeira" but don't let that name fool you. True, it's the pride of the Portuguese island of Madeira, where it's endemic, but it's also the joy of Bodega Bay. "What's that purplish spiked flower that grows somewhat like a yucca or a tower of jewels?" visitors ask.

Gopher and Ground Squirrel Control in Orchard Crops Field Meeting taking place this Thursday. As you can see the meeting location has been moved to D&D Farms at 3890 Tudor Rd, Yuba City (see attached map).

There's a good reason why lady beetles, aka ladybugs, are prevalent this time of year: aphids. Ladybugs, from the family Coccinellidae, are actually beetles with voracious appetites for those soft-bodied insects that suck plant juices. Wherever there are aphids, you'll usually see ladybugs.

I visited a couple herbicide trial sites in orchards and vineyards yesterday and saw some interesting results that follow up on my post from February 21, 2011.

Some call them "soldier beetles." Some call them "leather-winged beetles." Some call them "Cantharids" (family Cantharidae). Whatever you call them, be sure to welcome them to your garden. They eat aphids, lots of aphids. Like the good soldiers they are, they're ready to do battle.

That old saying, "Be all you can be," should be changed to "Bee all you can bee.

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From moths to medicine... When distinguished professor Bruce Hammock of the UC Davis Department of Entomology speaks at the department's noonhour seminar tomorrow (Wednesday, April 6) in 122 Briggs Hall, his topic is sure to draw attention.

Beekeepers with more than 50 colonies and who do business in California will soon have the opportunity to help support honey bee research.

Cover crops, or vegetation that was grown after the cash crop was harvested, was a practice that was widely used in the 1940s and 1950s. The vegetation was used to maintain or increase the fertility of the soil before commercial fertilizers became widely available.