Backyard Orchard News
Early season satsuma varieties
Autumn has arrived, and many of the early varieties of satsuma are starting to taste good. ...
Miyagawa satsuma October 8, 2013 at Lindcove REC
Surprise! Bees and Ants More Closely Related Than Most Wasps
Who would have thought? Who would have thought that ants are more closely related to bees than...
A bee and an ant; they're more closely related than they are to most wasps. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ants and bees are more genetically related to each other than they are to social wasps, such as this yellow jacket. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
On the Trail of the Giant Hornet
A hornet’s nest is nothing like a bee in the bonnet. You don’t want to mess with...
This is the world's largest hornet, Vespa mandarinia. (Photo by Terry Prouty, courtesy of Wikpedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Hornetboy1970)
Issues with Fuller Rose Beetle Foliar Treatments
One of the requirements of the Fuller rose beetle program for shipping fruit to Korea is application of a foliar spray by Oct 15. I am in the process of testing various products for efficacy against Fuller rose beetle to find insecticides to recommend, in addition to Actara. While several other products (Kryocide, Lorsban Advanced, Sevin XLR) show good efficacy, they do not have MRLs established or the MRLs for Korea are substantially lower than the US. There are two products I tested that include the active ingredient in Actara - thiamethoxam: Agri-Flex 8.5 oz (thiamethoxam + abamectin) and Voliam Flexi 7 oz (thiamethoxam + chlorantraniliprole). These products could be used as the foliar FRB treatment, if used at a rate that provides a similar level of thiamethoxam.
Numerous questions have come up about combining the FRB Actara treatment with a gibberellin spray or a Copper-Lime-Zinc spray. This morning a test was conducted at Lindcove REC and Gibb was not found to alter pH. In contrast, the lime treatment raised the pH to an unacceptable level (from 7.5 to 12.2) and so should not be combined with Actara. Additional tests are underway to see if these treatments reduce the efficacy of Actara against FRB in the field.
DSC 0208
Color Them Beautiful
A brilliant sunflower clinging to the red ring of autumn. And here comes a common sunflower bee,...
Sunflower bee, Melissodes agilis, on sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hi, nice to meet you! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to leave! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)