Backyard Orchard News
Calculate Your VOC Emissions
As summer continues to heat up, keep in mind that regulations remain in effect to reduce the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be emitted into the atmosphere by pesticides and other harmful chemicals and contribute to the amount of ozone or smog in the environment.
Calculators from the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) that determine the VOC emissions from fumigant and non-fumigant pesticides before application are available to help growers, pest control advisers, and pesticide applicators comply with the regulations. The UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program provides a link to these calculators from each of the treatment tables in the UC Pest Management Guidelines. Click on the Air Quality – Calculate emissions button.
Take steps to reduce VOCs. Avoid emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulations as they release the highest VOC emissions. Pesticide control advisers and growers can also reduce VOC emissions by employing IPM practices such as using resistant varieties, traps, exclusion, and biological control. When using pesticides, spot-treat and seek low-emission materials. Solid formulations, such as granules or powders, are best.
Check the fact sheet on the DPR web site for the most up-to-date-information on VOC restrictions and regulations.
Plants Can Eavesdrop, Sense Danger
Plants can eavesdrop. They can sense danger. So says ecologist Richard 'Rick' Karban,...
Ecologist Rick Karban has researched plant communication in sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) on the east side of the Sierra since 1995.
Updates on Huanglongbing Disease and Asian Citrus Psyllid
The UC ANR web site Asian Citrus Psyllid Distribution and Management http://ucanr.edu/sites/ACP/Distribution_of_ACP_in_California/ provides a zoomable web map that shows the quarantine boundaries around the HLB-infected trees (found and removed) in southern California.
If you click on the layers drop down arrow, you can turn off the ACP layer and check the box for the newly released Diaphorencyrtus parasitic wasp and see where it has been released to help reduce Asian citrus psyllid in residential areas (you can also view the Tamarixia wasp). http://ucanr.edu/sites/ACP/Distribution_of_ACP_in_California/
So You Want to Be a Beekeeper...
So you want to be a beekeeper...but you don't know where to begin. You're in luck. Bee...
UC Davis Extension apiculturist Elina Niño (left) explaining bee biology. At right is staff research associate Bernardo Niño, her husband. They will teach two short courses in September. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees, as seen through a bee observation hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two Predators, One Prey
Sometimes you just can't win for losing. This morning a newly emerged Gulf Fritillary butterfly...
A praying mantis snares a newly emerged Gulf Fritillary butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European paper wasp is an uninvited guest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The presence of the uninvited dinner guest does not go unnoticed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)