Posts Tagged: almonds
Protecting Our Pollinators
It's not too early to start thinking about NPW.NPW? National Pollinator Week. The fourth annual National Pollinator Week, set June 21-27, is a time...
Almond Tree at the Laidlaw Facility
Honing In
Buds 'n Blossoms
Close-Up
No Day Off
It's Presidents' Day today, a holiday for most of us but not for the honey bees.The bees are buzzing in and around the almond blossoms, collecting...
Honey Bee
Pollen Dust
Beach Ball
Wild Blue Yonder
Plant It and They Will Come
Plant it and they will come. The Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, planted last fall, is already attracting a few honey bees. The half-acre bee friendly...
Making Headway
Almond blossoms
Haven Visitor
When will Mother Nature get it right?
Farmers reeling from three years of drought and an unseasonably warm January are now worried about rainfall at the wrong time of year, according to a story in today's Redding Record Searchlight.
Almond trees that bloomed early because of warm January weather suffered some frost damage. Now, rain during spring bloom is inhibiting pollination. (Who can blame bees for curling up with a good book on rainy days?) Wet weather also raises concerns about fungal diseases. But despite these abnormal weather patterns, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Bill Krueger assured writer Debra Moore that almond farmers will still have nuts to harvest next fall.
"If there is good weather between storms, it will give the bees a chance to pollinate," Krueger was quoted. "The diseases won't be as bad as they would have been had these been warm storms."
The article also covered problems experienced by cattle ranchers when precipitation doesn't arrive on schedule.
UCCE livestock program representative Josh Davy told the reporter that February rain storms are filling up stock water ponds, but won't help farmers concerned about this season's rangeland vegetation, on which they rely for animal rations.
"The annual grasses are germinated with fall rains," Davy was quoted. "And this rain has come too late."
What Price Pollination?
What are insect pollinators worth to the global economy? Well, it's a lot less than the Wall Street bailout...er...rescue plan. Recent research...
The honey bee, resplendent here with silvery wings, is gold to the global economy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee visits an almond blossom. California's 700,000 acres of almonds require two hives per acre for pollination. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)