March 11, 2016
CapitalPress.com
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California
Beekeepers removing hives as
almond blossom winds down
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
CHICO, Calif. — A quick
and vibrant almond blossom
in California is winding down,
prompting beekeepers to re-
move hives as growers antici-
pate an abundant nut set.
Warm and balmy after-
noons in mid- to late February
facilitated lots of bee activi-
ty while making the blossom
proceed more quickly, noted
Bob Curtis, the Almond Board
of California’s director of agri-
cultural affairs.
Now that even the latest va-
rieties such as Butte and Padre
almonds are in petal fall, some
hives have been moved to
stone fruit orchards as the ear-
ly varieties of those crops have
started to bloom, reports the
National Agricultural Statistics
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“We had in essence about
two weeks rather than three
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elsewhere to forage — and
coming in contact with pesti-
cides applied to other crops.
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miles,” Curtis said, adding that
some growers are applying
chemicals to tree fruit crops
and alfalfa.
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
The precautions come after
Bee boxes are deployed in an
bee producers suffered devas-
almond orchard at the California
tating losses at the end of the
State University-Chico farm in the
almond blossom two years
middle of blossom in mid-February. ago, when a mixture of fun-
gicides used by almond grow-
weeks” of full blossom, Cur- ers and insecticides applied to
tis said. “During the daytime, ¿HOG FURSV SURYHG KDUPIXO WR
WKHUHZHUHSOHQW\RIEHHÀLJKW both adult bees and broods.
hours. … The other plus with
This year’s blossom fol-
this bloom is that we did lowed another tough winter for
have very good overlap of beekeepers in terms of honey
cross-compatible varieties.”
bee die-offs, with some report-
Under best-management LQJ VLJQL¿FDQW ORVVHV 6HYHUDO
practices the group developed factors have been blamed for
in 2014, the almond board has the latest deaths, including
been urging beekeepers to re- signs that the varroa mite be-
move their hives when most of lieved to cause many of the
their latest variety is in petal deaths is developing a resis-
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By TIM HEARDEN
caps the company’s costs at
$200 million, spokesman Bob
Gravely said.
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By contrast, relicensing
a separate entity to handle the the dams and keeping them
removal of four dams from operating would cost more
the Klamath River would be than $400 million just for
cheaper and less risky for LPSURYHPHQWV VXFK DV ¿VK
ratepayers than other options, ladders, plus any other costs
the company’s spokesman for measures imposed by the
says.
California Water Resources
The revised Klamath Control Board to obtain Clean
Hydroelectric
Settlement Water Act permits, he said.
Agreement — under which Environmental groups would
a “non-federal entity” would likely challenge the relicens-
apply to the Federal Energy ing application in court, he
Regulatory Commission to said.
decommission the dams —
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Capital Press
9
handle the decommissioning
itself would cost about $292
million, according to govern-
ment estimates. The third-par-
ty entity would enable Pacif-
iCorp to cap its costs while
assuming liability and re-
sponsibility for the facilities’
removal, Gravely said in an
email.
“So we have certainty in
terms of cost and risk,” he
said, “and have concluded
that the KHSA is both less
costly and less risky than re-
licensing under our known
terms and conditions or pur-
suing removal on our own.”
Meeting to raise citrus psyllid
awareness in Northern Calif.
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
tance to treatments against it.
Bee activity during the
blossom was monitored close-
ly by researchers from the
nationwide Bee Informed
Partnership, whose aim is to
help beekeepers improve the
strength of their hives, the Cal-
ifornia Farm Bureau Federa-
tion reported.
So far, the feedback from
many beekeepers to the al-
mond board has been positive,
Curtis said. Beekeepers are
pleased with what they call
their brood increase — the
egg-laying and development
of immature bees in hives —
during the blossom, he said.
Depending on the weather
this spring and summer, the
quick and early blossom could
portend another early harvest.
In 2015, many growers were
wrapping up their harvest by
Labor Day after a warm spring
and summer helped accelerate
the crop’s development.
AUBURN, Calif. —
While much attention has
been paid to grappling with
Asian citrus psyllids in the
San Joaquin Valley, a meet-
ing on March 22 will explore
WKHSHVW¶VSRWHQWLDOUDPL¿FD-
tions for Northern California
growers.
The state Citrus Pest and
Disease Prevention Program
will hold an afternoon work-
shop at a community center in
Auburn to advise the indus-
try how to protect mountain
mandarins and other citrus
fruit from the encroaching
threat of the psyllid, which
can carry the tree-killing dis-
ease huanglongbing.
The workshop will em-
phasize such precautions
as inspecting vehicles that
come from affected areas for
“hitchhiking’ psyllids and
brushing off all equipment
and clothing when leaving
groves, organizers say.
“It’s a proactive meet-
ing,” said Jessica Northrup,
Courtesy of USDA ARS
An adult Asian citrus psyllid is
shown on a young citrus leaf.
an outreach coordinator for
the grower assessment-fund-
ed state program. “A psyllid
has not been found in that
region, but we want to make
sure if that happens that they
know the best practices out in
WKH¿HOG´
The workshop comes
as California’s Asian citrus
psyllid quarantine keeps
growing and now covers
nearly one-third of the state’s
total land mass. First discov-
ered in Southern California,
psyllids are known to have
migrated as far north as San
Joaquin County and the San
Francisco Bay area.
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