Test PB Collection: FTE

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) made its way to California through the Spanish missions in the late seventeenth century. In its native ranges of North Africa and the Middle East, the date provided food, fiber and shelter.

Have you ever observed how a honey bee swarm finds a new home? How a few of the worker bees turn into scouts, scour their surroundings, and then return to the swarm and dance to communicate their findings? Thomas Seeley has. Many times.

It will be like "old-home week" when Anurag Agrawal returns to the University of California, Davis, tomorrow (Jan. 18) to deliver a seminar on "Evolutionary Ecology of Plant Defenses.

This is the story of a remarkable avocado rootstock trial that was set up in 2004, lost to the freeze of January 2007, recovered (mostly) and had its first harvest in spring of 2010.

Just a quick plug for the 64th Annual California Weed Science Society Conference in Santa Barbara next week (January 23-25th). A conference flyer and finalized agenda is attached. This is always an excellent way to get updated on weed science issues in the state.

There's a waiting list for Susan Cobey's specialized bee classes at the University of California,Davis. That says a lot about the demand for bee stock improvement and for Cobey's teachings. Cobey, bee breeder-geneticist at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

Zombies! What do you think of when someone says "zombies?" Students sitting inattentively in class? A souless body? Or a honey bee infested with parasitic flies? A Zombie, according to Wikipedia, is a term used "to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft.

As wildland weed management and eradication projects fall to the economic hatchet, one vital program continues as a standout---preventing the introduction and spread of invasive weeds can yield a lot of bang for the buck! Invasive weed seeds and other reproductive parts are often moved to new locati...

If you let your bok choy go to seed, what a treat for the honey bees. The mild unseasonable weather and blooming bok choy--perfect for foraging honey bees searching for food in January. Mother Nature may fool them. Bok choy does not.

Recently a six-year old W. Murcott orchard was evaluated for causes of tree decline. A high percentage of the trees exhibited damage to the bark of the tree generally from the soil line up 6-8 inches. (Fig.2) In some instances the tree had been almost totally girdled.