BeeWhere Protects Bees
Josette Lewis is Chief Scientific Officer with the Almond Board of California.
“It is a California law that pesticide applicators need to provide 48 hours advance notice to any beekeepers who have hives within a mile radius. So that s the law,” Lewis said. “Historically, most applicators or growers would contact their County ag Commissioner and the County ag commissioner would put them in touch with any beekeepers that were present in that area,” she said.
And Lewis says that process now is much easier.
“The Almond Board, along with CAPCA and a number of other organizations funded some software and apps that you can have on your phone, or you can also go to it on your computer, and it s called beewhere,” explained Lewis
Figs show that nonnative species can invade ecosystems by forming unexpected partnerships
January 19, 2021 8.07am EST
Disclosure statement
Jared Bernard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Partners
While surveying the Hawaiian island of Kauai in search of invasive plants in 2017, botanist Kelsey Brock spotted something unusal: a few nonnative species of figs seemed to be settling in.
As people traverse the planet for trade or travel, they bring a slew of species with them, many of which establish a foothold in a new place and may eventually replace the local native species. But because of a quirk of fig biology, my colleagues and I wondered how these figs could be reproducing to form new populations on Kauai.
Reducing Spray Drift to Protect Pollinating Bees
Monday Jan 18th, 2021 Protecting bees when those California almonds start blooming soon. One way to start, is reducing spray drift. Josette Lewis is Chief Scientific Officer with the Almond Board of California. “You want to make sure that you mitigate spray drift, which can go on to maybe flowering plants adjacent to the orchard that bees might visit, and also to make sure that you don t directly spray the beehives that are present usually at the ends of orchard,” noted Lewis.
“So, when applying a fungicide at night, make sure to turn off the nozzles, as the sprayer comes to the end of the rows, that have the hives on it. And, make sure you re not applying pesticides near flowering plants that might be outside the orchard or sources of water, whether they are puddles or naturally occurring water irrigation canals that might fill up during the winter,” she said.