Varroa Mites: No-Treatment is the Best Treatment

...ger colonies. Let’s first define what a “feral” bee is. Honey bees are not native to the Americas. They were, most likely, brought here by the Spanish. Since that introduction, some honey bees escaped tended apiaries and took up residence in forests and cities where they have lived, happily, for centuries without much human intervention. To clarify, when I say “feral” bees I mean untended honey bees (Apis mellifera) not any of the 4,000 species of...

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080 Lessons From the Theodore Payne 2016 Garden Tour

What’s the good side of our historic drought here in California? Native gardens, of course! In this episode of the podcast Kelly and I share the lessons we learned from a native garden tour put on by the Theodore Payne Foundation. During the podcast we discuss: a provocative white paper by two UC horticulturalists on why some residential drought measures are shortsighted. A blog post we did on the 2016 Theodore Payne Garden tour. Pictures of the...

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How many ladybugs can you find? The Lost Ladybug Project

...merica ladybug species composition is changing. Over the past twenty years native ladybugs that were once very common have become extremely rare. During this same time ladybugs from other parts of the world have greatly increased both their numbers and range. This is happening very quickly and we don’t know how, or why, or what impact it will have on ladybug diversity or the role that ladybugs play in keeping plant-feeding insect populations low....

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Natural Products Expo West: The Good and the Ugly

...tree that thrives on neglect. Plant one, like we did. Tanka Pemmican is a Native American food made with protein (often buffalo) and some kind of fruit or berry. Tanka is a Native American owned company that markets a power bar version of pemmican made from buffalo and cranberries. Tanka can be found at health food stores and some REIs. It’s a snack that would work well on a camping trip. Lastly, the farro vs. spelt issue I blogged about last yea...

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Organic Seed Growers Webinar

...ce-based information on maximizing crop yields through the conservation of native pollinators, while at the same time helping them to reduce the risk of outcrossing with non-organic crop varieties. Specific topics include the ecology of specialty seed crop pollinating insects, foraging behaviors and flight range of key native bee groups (and the impact of those foraging ranges on crop isolation), bee-friendly farming practices, development of poll...

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