Agriculture

The date is set. The celebration of life for global bee expert Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and a beloved scientist, is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Putah Creek Lodge.

Armyworms can be a serious pest in rice. The worms can eat the rice foliate or panicles, and cause yield reductions. In 2015, a severe outbreak of armyworms caught rice growers by surprise, resulting in yield losses.

UCCE is looking for growers interested in collaborating on a study of vineyard irrigation water use to help provide more accurate usage rates to the Groundwater Sustainable Agencies (GSAs) whose current modeled volumes overestimate actual use based on site variability and deficit irrigation practice...

If you want to bee-come a beekeeper, bee scientists at the University of California at Davis will oblige.

King & King Ranch operates out of Fillmore, California and has been growing citrus and avocados since 1913. Alana King, fourth generation of the King family, grew up visiting their grandparents on the ranch and four years ago returned with their partner to steward the family land.

If you're a beekeeper or plan to be a beekeeper, you're aware of Public Enemy No. 1. That would be the varroa mite, Varroa destructor, an eight-legged external parasite that attacks and feeds on honey bees. Those mites can spread viruses and decimate a healthy colony.

They came to learn about honey bees, how to become a beekeeper, and how to plan for their first hive.

Love is in the air. Or, more specifically, in the snapdragons. If you maintain a pollinator garden, you've probably seen female European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum) nectaring on flowers or scraping or carding fuzz for their nests.

If you're a beekeeper, you not only keep bees in your hive, but unfortunately, varroa mites. This major pest of honey bees is considered Public Enemy No. 1 in the beekeeping world.

Let's hear it for biocontrol. You've seen lady beetles, aka ladybugs, preying on aphids. But have you seen an assassin bug attack a spotted cucumber beetle? No? How about a crab spider munching on a stink bug? All biocontrol, part of integrated pest management (IPM).