ALMOND & SWEET CHERRY GROWERS GAIN ACCESS TO TRADE MITIGATION

Posted November 1, 2018

ALMOND & SWEET CHERRY GROWERS GAIN ACCESS TO TRADE MITIGATION

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2018 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the addition of commodities to the trade mitigation package aimed at assisting farmers suffering from damage due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. Starting Monday, Sept. 24, producers of shelled almonds and fresh sweet cherries may apply for Market Facilitation Program …

Posted November 1, 2018

‘HIGH-YIELD’ FARMING COULD HELP SPARE HABITATS AND REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, BUT ONLY IF INTENSIVE USE CURTAILS FARM EXPANSION

“Organic agriculture as being better for the planet. But what if we minimized the spread of agriculture, preserving more wild land and intensified our use of current farm land? Agriculture that appears to be more eco-friendly, but uses more land, may actually have greater environmental costs per unit of food than “high-yield” farming that uses …

Posted November 1, 2018

ONSUMPTION, ALLERGISTS WARN

Chiggers, redbugs, harvest mites – whatever you call them, they are pesky little bugs whose bites cause really itchy rashes, usually around the ankles and waistline. Beekeepers often encounter them while working bees in outyards. New research suggests they might force you to become a vegetarian. In addition to being uncomfortable and annoying, these bites …

Posted November 1, 2018

Winter is Coming: See Bees Survive in Bitter Cold

For a few cold winters, I lived in an old thin-walled trailer heated by a couple of small kerosene heaters many years ago. When bitter, frigid winds buffeted the trailer, the dainty window curtains that hung inside twitched out the timing of the blasts. On the mini kitchen counter, freezing cold transformed common items: a …

Posted November 1, 2018

Notes from the Lab – November 2018

This is our twelfth “Notes from the Lab,” which means the column has been featured in ABJ for one year. That’s a shorter period of time than several neonicotinoid insecticides are known to be able to persist in soils. For example, if I applied a sufficient quantity of thiamethoxam to plants in my garden last …

Posted November 1, 2018

Sow Seeds, Not War

The room was fluttering with bee conservationists. The seats were occupied by men and women from all over the Pacific Northwest who had agreed to donate considerable sums of personal time and money to tramp across the tristate area and survey bumble bees. Butterfly nets, catch jars, and t-shirts were stacked next to doughnuts, coffee, …

Posted November 1, 2018

Letters to the Editor – November 2018

New Hive Type I am 75 years old and beekeeping work is getting more difficult due to the weight of the boxes. I decided to make this new type of hive after reading your magazine. I am sending you a picture. I made the walls double thick because of our weather. Bees seem happy. …will …

Posted November 1, 2018

The Classroom – November 2018

Q B401 Hello Jerry, I have been enjoying your column for decades. Keep up the good work! :) I’ve been reading about B401 “Certan” that other countries use to kill waxmoth caterpillars in stored frames. How does it work? Is it toxic to the bees? Do we have to air it out before we put …

Posted November 1, 2018

Always Learning

Fall is a beautiful time of year in temperate regions. It can also be nerve-racking, especially if this is the first time you’ve readied a colony for winter. In areas with a real winter, November is too late to be doing much for your colony’s health. The mite count should be low, the bees should …

Posted November 1, 2018

Precision Pollination

Last spring, I was walking through the blueberry fields at the University of British Columbia’s farm when I noticed something peculiar. We have a handful of research colonies near the edge of the blueberry patch, the blueberries were in full bloom, and the bushes were humming with activity. But it wasn’t the honey bees who …

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