Backyard Orchard News
August 19th is National Honey Bee Day: Dr. Elina Niño reminds us to help honey bees cope with pests.
National Honey Bee Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of every August. This year it falls on Saturday the 19th. If you use integrated pest management, or IPM, you are probably aware that it can solve pest problems and reduce the use of pesticides that harm beneficial insects, including honey bees. But did you know that it is also used to manage pests that live inside honey bee colonies? In this timely podcast below, Dr. Elina Niño, UCCE apiculture extension specialist, discusses the most serious pests of honey bees, how beekeepers manage them to keep their colonies alive, and what you can do to help bees survive these challenges.
To hear the audio recording, click here.
To read the full transcript of the audio, click here.
Successful IPM in honey bee colonies involves understanding honey bee pest biology, regularly monitoring for pests, and using a combination of different methods to control their damage. Visit these resources for more information:
For Beekeepers:
The California Master Beekeeper Program
For All Bee Lovers:
Haagen Dazs Honey Bee Haven plant list
UC IPM Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings and video tutorial
Sources for the Value of Honey Bees:
Flottum K. 2017. U.S. Honey Industry Report, 2016.
Top-Bar Beekeeping Advocate Les Crowder to Speak at WAS Conference at UC Davis
Are top-bar beekeeping hives for you? What are their advantages and disadvantages as compared to...
Les Crowder examines a frame from his top-bar hive. A resident of Austin, Texas, he will speak Sept. 7 at the Western Apicultural Society conference at UC Davis.
A honey bee heads over the top of a tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Fly, Oh, My!
A fly, oh, my! On the approval scale, they don't rank nearly as high as honey bees, but some are...
A female Eristalis stipator (as identified by Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, foraging on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female Eristalis stipator peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eristalis stipator in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
See you! Off flies Eristalis stipator, heading for another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gene Brandi, Speaker at WAS Conference: Managing Honey Bees in California
Varroa mites--considered the No. 1 enemy of beekeepers--will be among the topics discussed when...
A varroa mite (reddish-brownish spot at left beneath the wings) is attached to this forager nectaring on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee pauses from foraging on an almond blossom to pack pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sunpreme raisins a hit at the UC Kearney Grape Day 2017
Excitement over the new Sunpreme raisins was evident at UC Kearney Grape Day Aug. 8, 2017. As soon as the tram stopped, dozens of farmers and other industry professionals rushed over to the vineyard to take a close look and sample the fruit. Raisins pulled from the vine were meaty with very little residual seed. The flavor was a deep, sweet floral with a muscat note.
Sunpreme raisins, bred by now-retired USDA breeder David Ramming, promise a nearly labor-free raisin production system. Traditionally, raisins are picked and placed on paper trays on the vineyard floor to dry. The development of dried-on-the-vine varieties opened the door to greater mechanization. Workers would cut the stems above clusters...