Test PB Collection: FTE

Photos of honey bees can sometimes exude a dreamy, even ethereal quality, but in real life, bees are in trouble. That's why Marla Spivak's TED talk should be required viewing.

Since beginning the California phase of my career eight years ago (first with USDA-ARS and more recently with University of California), I have been involved to one degree or another in soil fumigation projects.

It happened so quickly. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) fluttered to the lantana for a sip of nectar when the unexpected happened. A praying mantis, lying in wait, leaped high and grabbed it by its wings. Unable to fly, the monarch struggled to right itself.

Who a thunk it, but coffee can grow in coastal California, because our latitude approximates the climate found in high altitude coffee growing areas found in Central America. And now there is a "small" industry growing here.

These are courtesy of Christopher Dow, crew leader for our SNAMP field work. They were in the Last Chance area gathering post-treatment data when the American Fire started. They were able to collect all the field data we needed for SNAMP before leaving. Which is great news for SNAMP.

Love is where you find it. And sometimes you find it in a bean field. Take the UC Dry Bean Field Day on Sept. 5 at UC Davis.

Every year for the past 3 or 4 years I've been hearing of rice that is graded No. 2 because of "peck". It's always been just a few isolated cases, except in 2011 when we had some early rains during harvest. The free water on the surface of the the grains may allow fungi to grow and stain the kernel.

A miss is as good as a mile...or a smile. The Buckeye (Junonia coenia) is a striking butterfly patterned with eyespots and white bars. We saw one today nectaring on sedum, but with chunks of a wing missing. Perhaps a bird or a praying mantis tried to grab it. It narrowly escaped predation.

The newly revised book, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, by Dewey Caron with Lawrence (Larry) John Connor, is a wealth of information. Published by Wicwas Press of Kalamazoo, Mich., it doubles as a university textbook and a "how-to" resource for beekeepers.

Its that time of year when citrus and avocado growers need to collect leaf samples for nutrient analysis to guide fertilizer applications. Leaves are collected between August 15 and October 15 and sent to the lab for analysis.