Backyard Orchard News
Bully in the Bee Garden
He's the bully in the bee garden. If you've ever watched the male European wool carder bee...
Male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum)targets a female Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) on a bluebeard (Caryopteris). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) takes another swipe at the female Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) on a bluebeard (Caryopteris). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sleepytime! Male European wool carder bees sleeping inside a mason bee condo, bee housing meant for blue orchard bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Lessons from six California soil care farmers.
Despite the growing interest in soil health in many parts of the country, the notion hasn't captured the imagination of most farmers in California. The Golden State's lackluster attention to soil care is likely due to “phenomenal yield increases over the past several decades, the sheer diversity of cropping systems, and widespread perception that California's environment and crop production mix doesn't lend itself to soil health improvements,” said Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension agronomy specialist.
A series of farm visits this summer in the Central Valley prove this rationale wrong, Mitchell said. The farm visits were sponsored by the UC Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation Center (CASI), USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts. The farm visits showcased the soil health goals and experiences of six farmers who are familiar with soil care principles across a wide range of local cropping contexts.
The series of visits demonstrated the use of no-till and minimum tillage farming, cover cropping, enhancing the diversity of above-ground species and underground soil biology, surface residue preservation, and compost applications. Read more.
The rapidity of water infiltration into the soil is a measure of soil health.
The UC Davis Version of 'The Splash Brothers'
What do UC Davis entomologists and other scientists do for fun and camaraderie after working hard...
It was “fun in the sun” at the 13th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle. From left are Todd Harris and Sing Lee, assistant project scientists; graduate student Alifia Merchant who just received her master's degree in agriculture and environmental chemistry, and research scientist Christophe Morisseau, who coordinated the event. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Alifia Merchant of the Hammock lab drenches Bruce Hammock. She just received her master's degree in agriculture and environmental chemistry. In the foreground is executive administrative assistant Louisa Lo. At right is Hammock lab researcher and balloon battle coordinator Christophe Morisseau. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ting Xu (far right), a visiting professor from China, gets splashed. At left is Hammock lab research scientist Christopher Morisseau. Associate professor Aldrin Gomes is in the background. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tom Joseph, a visiting student from France (Aldrin Gomes lab) targets Christophe Morisseau of the Hammock lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Breaking News: Zika Virus Found in Wild-Caught Culex
The news is out. It's what they've been searching for. In a groundbreaking discovery, a...
Culex quinquefasciatus, the southern house mosquito,is known for transmitting the West Nile virus, but now the Zika virus has been detected in wild-caught C. quinquefasciatus in Recife, Brazil, the epicenter of the Zika epidemic. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis chemical ecologist and mosquito researcher Walter Leal (front), confers with Constancia Ayres (far right, in black) and Rosângela Barbosa (center), faculty members in the Department of Entomology, Fiocruz-Recife. Both are Leal colloborators.
From Venomous Scorpions to Neuropathic Pain Research
Fascinating stories in the scientific world... Have you heard about the entomologist who went from...
Holding a copy of Discover magazine's edition of "The Top 100 Science Stories of 2015," are (from left) UC Davis researchers Bora Inceoglu, Fawaz Haj and Bruce Hammock. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)