Backyard Orchard News
What's That Buzz?
When the Onward California tour rolls into Davis next week, the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee...
Honey bee nectaring Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This sign, the work of noted artist Donna Billick of Davis, greets visitors to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Oh, the Life of a Praying Mantis...
Oh, the life of a praying mantis... You can hang upside down like an acrobat, shading yourself...
Praying mantis hangs upside down on a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis eating a bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mating pair of praying mantids. The green one (left) is the male. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
KQED reporter visits the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Alice Daniel, a reporter for the popular statewide public radio program The California Report, visited the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center today to gather information for a story on aflatoxin. Daniel interviewed Kearney-based UC Davis plant pathologist Themis Michailides, who led the team that discovered how to expose pistachio trees to spores of beneficial fungus that displace the fungi that produce aflatoxin.
The fungus, AF-36, was used for the first time in pistachio orchards this past summer. For more on the story, read Pistachio farmers enlist a beneficial fungus to battle aflatoxin.
Daniel also recently interviewed Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, for a story about farmers growing interest in conservation agriculture techniques. The story aired Sept. 4 and can still be heard on The California Report website.
The California Report airs locally at 6:50 a.m. and 7:50 a.m. Monday through Friday on Valley Public Radio, 89.3 FM in Fresno and is also available online.
The Buck (Eye) Stops Here
The buck stops here. The buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia), that is. Whether it's doing the...
Buckeye (Junonia coenia) spreads its wings on sedum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Buckeye perched on lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Buckeye ready to flutter away. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Greenhouse Improvements
Happiness is an empty greenhouse. With more than 1000 potted trees planted in research blocks at...
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