Author: Erfan Vafaie

What’s the Buzz about the Bees

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The Beepocalypse

 A quick glance at the news paints a grim picture for bees in the future, with title articles such as “Honey, we shrunk the bees: mass extinction threat for beloved insect?”, “The bee all end all: why should we care that the bees are dying?” and “Dying honeybees, and the uncertain future of honey” make us feel like we are on an inevitable slope to losing all of our bees and horrible puns (including this article’s title) simultaneously. Bee health started becoming a great cause of public concern around 2006, when colonies were seemingly left completely abandoned, with capped brood and queen bees still in the hive. Beekeepers were losing more than double the accepted colony loss rate (15% to >30%) Continue reading “What’s the Buzz about the Bees”

Woolly Aphids

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There have been several reports of woolly aphid infestations in East Texas within the last few weeks. Woolly aphids are often described as being small white flying insects found on leaves. Just like all other aphids, they penetrate leaf veins and feed primarily on the phloem. In doing so, they excrete a lot of the excess phloem in the form of “honeydew” – a sugary solution which often ends up on nearby leaf surfaces or on the ground near the infested tree. A high level of infestation often results in a sticky ground and grass below the infested tree and the appearance of black sooty mold where honeydew has coated a surface. Black sooty mold will appear as a satin bumpy black substance (hence the name “sooty mold”) on the honeydew-coated surface. Continue reading “Woolly Aphids”

2015 Greenhouse and Nursery Regulatory Compliance Workshop

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Greenhouse and Nursery Regulatory Compliance Workshop

When?

November 19, 2015

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Lunch is included.

Where?

Constellation Ballroom I,
Holiday Inn, 5701 South Broadway, Tyler

What?

In addition to running an efficient and profitable business, it is imperative that you comply with Texas Department of Agriculture, Worker Protection Safety, and Occupational Safety and Health regulations. Complying with these regulations help keep yourself, your employees, and the environment safe from potential hazards. Non-compliance can result in some hefty fines, in some cases enough fines to run someone out of business!

Make sure you are aware of current compliance regulations and how to stay on top of them. This workshop will feature a current TDA auditor and an AgriLife employee who works with and trains auditors.

Who?

Speakers
Dr. Mark Matocha (Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, AgriLife Extension, Agricutlural & Environmental Safety Unit)
Mr. Mark Evans (TDA Auditor)

Audience
This workshop is specifically designed for greenhouse ornamental and nursery growers, although some of the material may apply to greenhouse or outdoor vegetable growers, forage growers, and orchards.

Why?

Some of the most influential growers in East Texas considered this to be a great need for the industry and prioritized this program. Some of the growers in East Texas have already faced some large fines and “nightmares”, and would like their fellow industry-people to avoid the same fate.

Registration Fee

Early-bird (- 11/13): $40
Regular (11/14 – 11/18): $80
Door (11/19): $100

Lunch is included with registration.
3 hrs of Laws and Regulations CEUs included. Bring your applicator license to the meeting to register for CEUs.

Register Now!

What the science says on the impact of neonicotinoids on our pollinators

Author Erfan VafaiePosted on Categories PresentationsTags , , Leave a comment on What the science says on the impact of neonicotinoids on our pollinators

Screen Shot 2015-07-01 at 8.51.49 AMThis presentation, delivered both for the East Texas Beekeepers Association and at the Overton Field day (2015), gives some components to consider when looking at the impact of neonics on pollinators. The general public is very quick to call upon a ban on neonics for killing our bees – but the situation is really not that simple. In this presentation, I try to shed light on both sides of the argument that neonics are responsible for pollinator population decline.

 

 

Summer Student – Jonathan Nemati

Author Erfan VafaiePosted on Categories Employee, GeneralTags , , , ,

Jonathan Nemati joined the Six Legged Aggie Lab in early May of 2015. He is a senior student at LeTourneau University, where he is studying Biology.

Although he started in his father’s footsteps by studying engineering physics, he found himself more passionate about his grandfather’s career in ecology and environmental studies, which led him to change his major at the end of his sophomore year.  As such, Jon has good analytical and computing skills combined with his interest in living organisms and their interactions.

He has had an interest in wildlife since he was little, collecting and observing a wide variety of wildlife as a hobby and studying from a number of internet and text sources. His interest in insects began before he was able to read himself, asking his parents and brothers to read him books about insects such as Insects of the Los Angeles Basin (Hogue 1993), however, his primary interest is in the field of herpetology.His other hobbies include reading, hiking, hunting and a wide variety of sports. He intends to pursue graduate studies in ecology after graduating with his bachelors of science.

Jon will be primarily assisting Erfan Vafaie with work on the crape myrtle bark scale, as well as dabbling in other projects and general maintenance for the Six Legged Aggie venture.

Socrative – Online Polling Software

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I’ve been searching for a while for audience polling software that uses smartphones/internet enabled devices and is free. I had some good experiences with kahoot.it, except it’s a bit limited in what you can do.

I’ve been quite interested in participoll as well, except it’s not available for mac computers yet (which is what I use). Participoll has the great advantage of integrating into your powerpoint presentation, so you don’t have to leave to your web browser every time you want to poll the audience. I haven’t had an opportunity to try it yet though, so I’m not sure how well it works.

Socrative recently updated their interface; I tried it before, and it was rather unappealing and not very user-friendly. I was getting desperate, so I decided to try it again recently. I was very impressed with their changes and it’s definitely a very strong viable option. Currently running in “beta”, they are offering their services for free and the system is designed to take around 50 students. One can try more students, but they state they are not setup for it.

Here’s a video showing a quick tour:

Here are some screenshots from the mobile device (Android Galaxy S4):

Biological Control & Ideas for Insects

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Biological Control and Ideas for InsectsGood insects naturally occurring in your garden and farms can be invaluable for control of pests. Knowing how to protect them, promote them, and make them more effective can assist in establishing a very successful and strong integrated pest management practice.