Test PB Collection: FTE

Along scenic corridors, county roads and state highways of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, weedsespecially yellow starthistle and Italian thistleare creating solid stands of invasion that defy control.

The Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) Public Awareness Committee with contributions from WSSA members, released a new fact sheet on weeds. The press release text is pasted the text below (in black) or you can click HERE for the direct link. Click here for a link to the pdf.

The dengue research news coming out of medical entomologist Thomas Scott's lab at the University of California, Davis, is certainly exciting. And compelling.

Four Locations: Richvale: Monday, Jan. 28, 8:30 am, Evangelical Church, 5219 Church St., Richvale Yuba City: Monday, Jan. 28, 1:00 pm, Veterans Hall, 1425 Veterans Memorial Circle, Yuba City Colusa: Tuesday, Feb. 5, 8:30 am, CIP Conference Room, 100 Sunrise Blvd., Colusa Glenn: Tuesday, Feb.

It's a brief appearance but the message is important. Pollination ecologist Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology at UC Davis, appears briefly in a segment on native pollinators produced by America's Heartland. The show is now airing throughout the country.

Despite the fact that I am currently working in orchards and vineyards, I receive lots of requests to discuss Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.), a weed that I spent almost six years studying.

What an unexpected find! It was the first day of 2013 and what did we see: a queen bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, aka black-tailed bumble bee. Like scores of others, we decided to take a walk on Jan. 1 in the Benicia State Recreation Area.

Happy New Year! A quick post today to share an article I wrote last fall for Western Fruit Grower (Nov/Dec 2012) It was in a section called "California Nut Report" which is about California nuts, not by them.. I think). The online, and professionally edited version of the article can be found here.

Art Shapiro knows where to find the cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae). No sooner had he announced his annual "Beer-for-a-Butterfly" Contest, then he found one. Actually, two.

In this issue...