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LinkedInPosts Tagged: nectarines
Where, Oh Where, Can They Bee?
The nectarines are bursting into bloom, but where are the honey bees? Well, they're huddled inside their colonies as California storms erupt with a vengeance reserved for politics. The bees venture out...one here...one there...on sun breaks, but never is the nectarine tree a'buzzing as it...
A honey bee, cooped up in a hive for weeks due to the rain and cold, heads for a nectarine blossom in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Find the bee! There's one pollinating a nectarine blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A pollen-packing bee exits a nectarine blossom.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Where Are All the Bumble Bees?
Seen any bumble bees lately? No? Me, neither. It's almost the first day of spring, and bumble bees are as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth. (Hens have no teeth, y'know.) We've been watching our nectarine tree bloom. It's drawing honey bees, but no bumble bees. Back on March 18, 2018,...
A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heading for the Garvey nectarine tree on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ahh, sweet nectar! A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Wait, just a little more! A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's Tough Being a Bee During the Springlike Rains
It's tough being a bee--especially when you have work to do and the rain won't let you out of your hive. But when there's a sun break, it's gangbusters. To put it in alliteration, we spotted a bevy of boisterous bees networking in the nectarine blossoms in between the springlike rains this...
A honey bee pollinating a nectarine blossom in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A foraging honey bee takes a liking to a nectarine blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
All Systems Are 'Bee' for UC Davis Bee Symposium
All systems are "bee" for the fourth annual UC Davis Bee Symposium: Keeping Bees Healthy, on Saturday, March 3. Except for a little liquid sunshine. Unexpected rain, however, won't deter beekeepers, bee scientists and other bee enthusiasts from gathering in the UC Davis Conference Center on...
Odds are, due to the rain, you won't find any bees flying around Davis during the UC Davis Bee Symposium, but you might find a rainbow or a reflection. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
California summer fruit smaller and tastier this year
"That smaller peach this year very likely is sweeter than the moderate-sized peach of last year," said Kevin Day, UC ANR Cooperative Extension advisor and director in Tulare and Kings counties.
Most of the change in fruit size can be attributed to the drought. When irrigation is limited, water content of the fruit diminishes and sugars become a greater proportion of the fruit mass. However, Day says drought isn't the only reason for 2015's smaller fruit size. California also had unusually warm temperatures in January and February 2015, causing fruit to ripen faster.
"A variety that might ripen after 120 days of being on a tree in a year like this ripens in only 110," Day said. "And, so it's consequently shortchanged out of 10 days of growing."
