Backyard Orchard News
How Tall Is It?
We have this tall plant in our back yard. How tall is it? Tall enough to give weather forecasts....
Honey bee packing a load of blue pollen heading for the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Young honey bee seeking another blossom on the tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
California Red Scale Crawlers on the Move
California red scale crawlers emerge about 550 degree days (biofix in March, lower developmental threshold of 53oF) after the first flight of males. As you can see on the CRS degree day web page, Kern county passed that point last week, Tulare County crawlers are emerging this week and Fresno scale crawlers are soon to emerge. The first or second crawler generations are the best times to treat with most insecticides, because crawlers are most sensitive at this stage.
See the UC IPM Guidelines for Citrus for more information on treatments.
CRS degree day accumulation for Tulare County
Bee-ing There and Bee-Lieving in the Bees
Just call it a "practice run." Or a "buzz run." Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of the UC...
Honey bees in the hands of Pam Kan-Rice. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Making a beeline for her watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bees are drawn to the special artificial nectar placed on a plastic plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bad Hair Day
"It was a bad hair day," quipped native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of...
Yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on rock rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gust of wind blows the bumble bee to the next blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Distinguishing characteristic of the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Everything's Coming Up Roses
UC Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) staff distributed ladybugs (actually lady beetles,...
A ladybug foraging on a yellow rose, Sparkle and Shine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)