pollinators

Georgia NRCS Promoting the ABC’s of Pollinators

Dan Georgia, Pollinators, USDA-NRCS

Many in agriculture have been celebrating National Pollinator Week this week, as the event was designated by the U.S. Senate twelve years ago. Numerous groups like The Honey Bee Health Coalition, Farmers for Monarchs, and the Environmental Defense Fund have been working to expand pollinator awareness through education. But USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Georgia is also celebrating …

bees

Bees Required to Create an Excellent Blueberry Crop

Dan Fruits, Industry News Release, Pollinators, Specialty Crops

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, (USDA/ARS)—Getting an excellent rabbiteye blueberry harvest requires helpful pollinators—particularly native southeastern blueberry bees—although growers can bring in managed honey bees to do the job, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. This is especially true for commercial rabbiteye blueberry producers in Mississippi and Louisiana. With sufficient pollinators, they have been able to increase the percentage of flowers …

honey bee colonies

Honey Bee Colonies More Successful By Foraging on Non-Crop Fields

Dan Industry News Release, Pollinators

Honey bee colonies foraging on land with a strong cover of clover species and alfalfa do more than three times as well than if they are put next to crop fields of sunflowers or canola, according to a study just published in Scientific Reports by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist and his colleagues. Managed honey bee colonies placed from May until October next …

practical

Practical Uses of the Mimosa Tree

Dan Nursery Crops, Specialty Crops, This Land of Ours

Cathy Isom gives us some practical uses for the fast-growing, cold-hardy exotic tree you may want to consider for your yard. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. Practical Uses of the Mimosa Tree Mimosa trees, otherwise known as Persian silk trees, are beloved ornamental trees because of their beautiful pink pom-pom flowers with an amazing fragrance, and fern-like …

homeowners

UF Survey: Homeowners Want to Keep Their Lawns Lush and Conserve Water

Dan Florida, Research, Water

Homeowners who irrigate want a beautiful lawn, and they’re more than willing to conserve water, a new University of Florida survey shows. It’s not a matter of a lush lawn versus saving a precious commodity. They also want a landscape with pollinators, one that helps preserve the environment and one on which they can lie in a hammock for peace …

parasite

Agri View: Honeybee Update

Dan Agri View, Pollinators

Everett Griner talks about the honeybee battle still being fought in today’s Agri View. Honeybee Update Well, it has been a dozen years or more since the United States faced that series of problems that threatened to destroy our honeybee industry. Scientists have still not solved the problem, but, they have found a lot of things that have helped. One …