Test PB Collection: FTE

Honey bee guru Eric Mussen never misses an opportunity to talk about the importance of honey bee nutrition It's critical issue.

Here are the tag clouds from this year's GIS class: the why, how and what of our upcoming semester's projects. Word clouds from Wordle. The Why: what are the key problems class members want to focus on... The How: possible methods we will use... The What: some of the datasets that might be used...

To bee or not to bee--a photographer. Capturing images of honey bees is a delightful leisure activity. You don't have to sign up for a safari on another continent, or invest in thousands of dollars worth of camera gear.

(This article summarizes California Department of Pesticide Regulations online VOC information.) Its that time of year again when hot weather fuels the creation of ground-level ozone, also called smog. High levels of ozone can harm people and crops.

Fall semester is here! Summer was a great adventure, with a terrific Intro to GIS workshop at the Forest Camp (see Sam's photo below), and a just fantastic workshop down at Google where we learned about some really cool new Google tools with former Kellylabber Karin Tuxen and the rest of the Google...

Valley carpenter bees are passionate about passionflower vines (Passiflora). You see these black bees foraging on the blossoms. Tiny grains of golden pollen, looking like gold dust, dot the thorax. Their loud buzz frightens many a person, but wait, they're pollinators.

UCCE Farm Advisor Gary Bender finally has his 14 chapter book on avocado history, botany and cultural practices on the San Diego County web site. Check it out: http://ucanr.

Introduction to the species: Abutilon theophrasti (commonly known as velvetleaf) is a summer annual weed native to Asia. For those not familiar with the species, plants are tall (to 1-2 m) and erect with green- or purple-colored stems that branch at higher leaf axils (Warwick and Black 1988).

if it's a streak of gray, you don't wash it away. You welcome it. The gray hairstreak butterfly (Strymon melinus) is common on our sedum, a good fall plant for pollinators, including butterflies, honey bees, sweat bees and syrphid flies, aka hover flies or flower flies.

I don't mulch much but this caught my eye: using those big round straw bales that unroll behind the tractor as an easy way to put out a mulch. John Wilhoit & Timothy Coolong (2013).