Test PB Collection: FTE

Two ladybugs, aka lady beetles, circled their little house, a 1.5-inch plastic container punctured with air holes. Up. Down. Down. Up. In a way, they seemed like hamsters on a treadmill. I don't know how long they'd been in the container, but they were anxious to leave.

I just read about an interesting development in the methyl iodide (Midas) controversy - the fumigant is being pulled from US use by the manufacturer. While the decision is not altogether surprising in California, I admit that I didn't expect a US-wide registration withdrawel.

The first day of spring--Tuesday, March 20--yielded a diversity of insects in the fava beans planted in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden adjacent to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of California,Davis.

The Spring 2012 edition of the Sacramento Valley Walnut News was recently made available at the Sutter-Yuba Cooperative Extension office. It's available here and is attached at the bottom of this post.

Every year variety trials are established throughout Californias rice production areas. The trials are a cooperative effort between UCCE and the Rice Experiment Station (RES).

(Note: Due to a forecast of heavy rain, the grand opening originally scheduled March 24 is now Saturday, March 31. The blog below reflects the change.) The Davis Bee Sanctuary is the place to "bee" on Saturday, March 31.

Kent McKenzie, Rice Experiment Station (RES) Director, has announced that foundation rice seed produced in 2011 has been cleaned and sampled for germination and purity evaluations. The price of foundation seed will be $40.00 per cwt in 2012.

When the annual California Ag Day takes place Wednesday, March 21 on the west side of the California State Capitol grounds, Sacramento, expect to see a lot of happy faces. This year's overall theme is "Know Your California Farmer.

Since 1910, the Citrus Variety Collection has been a resource for research, citrus breeding and educational extension activities initially for the UC Citrus Experiment Station and now for the expanded College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UC Riverside.

Athough not specifically a weed science opportunity, I wanted to repost an announcement for the 2012 University of California Cooperative Extension Horticulture Almond Internship Program.