Test PB Collection: FTE

So you're in a quandary. You have no idea what to get the nature lovers/insect enthusiasts on your holiday gift-giving list. It's buggin' ya. No worries. The UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (EGSA) to the rescue.

Six-month old strawberry field. Under the soil is a complex and dynamic world of moisture, pH, salinity, nutrients, microorganisms, and plant roots along with pests, pathogens, weeds and more.

Jazz is music to his ears, but so are the bees. He's been beekeeping and playing the clarinet for 69 years. Meet Norman Gary of Citrus Heights, UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology who retired in 1994 after a 32-year academic career.

This article is from Florida Grower News. Thanks for Jim Lloyd-butler for pointing it out. FLG-Editorial@MeisterMediaww.

Talk about not getting the memo. We walked into our little pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif., this afternoon to cut a few tropical milkweed stems to feed the indoor caterpillars, and there, hidden beneath a leaf, was a tiny caterpillar.

If you're addicted to monarchs--and lament that they're overwintering in coastal California and in central Mexico and nowhere near you--no worries.

What a Thanksgiving surprise! No, the stuffed turkey didn't slip out of the oven and fall on the floor. Nor did the pumpkin pie turn another shade of orange. Some unexpected guests arrived--four to be exact.

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.