“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese proverb When it comes to integrated pest management, we talk, a lot, about prevention. Keeping mice and brown marmorated stink bugs out is preferable to dealing with them once they’re in your house. So remember those…Continue Reading What’s Bugging You? – Missed Opportunities
“Truth in advertising. We have had fungus gnats in the IPM house” – NYSIPM staffer Just because we spend our working hours thinking, researching, and educating about pests does not mean we don’t sometimes have issues too. We decided a presentation on fungus gnats could help other NYers as well. On Friday, February 4, Dr….Continue Reading What’s Bugging You? – Fungus Gnats
“The dandelions and buttercups gild all the lawn: the drowsy bee stumbles among the clover tops, and summer sweetens all to me.” – James Russell Lowell It’s Pollinator Week, a week dedicated to halting and reversing the decline in pollinator populations and recognizing the valuable service they provide. There are plenty of resources out there…Continue Reading Pollinator Friendly… Lawns?
Post by Ken Wise, Livestock & Field Crops IPM Extension Area Educator We have set up two dairy fly IPM summer-long demonstrations. The demonstrations are in Essex and Dutchess Counties. Along with Jennifer Fimbel (Dutchess County Cornell Extension Educator) and Carly Summers (Essex County Cornell Extension Educator), we have set up two summer long demonstration…Continue Reading Dairy Fly IPM Demonstrations
Recently, our Livestock & Field Crops IPM Extension Area Educator, Ken Wise did a guest lecture in the Cornell IPM class taught by Dr. Toni DiTomasso and Dr. John Losey. But Ken didn’t only stand in front of the chalkboard (or white board); he did a hands-on lecture on fly pest management at the new…Continue Reading An #IPM Field Trip
Protect Pollinators. With these new Forever stamps, released on August 2nd, It’s all about the bees and the butterflies. Here, the monarch butterfly and western honey bee symbolize the thousands (yes, thousands) of native bees, hover and flower flies, beetles, wasps, butterflies, and moths at work throughout the Northeast, and across the continent on behalf…Continue Reading Of pollinators and postage stamps — forever
When we think about bees, we mostly think about honeybees … a European native brought here by the very first colonists. Now honeybees are struggling, hammered by a constellation of 20-plus diseases and parasites — not to mention a range of insecticides and fungicides. About 450 species of wild bees also populate our fields and…Continue Reading It’s Pollinator Week. Read All About It.
We’re starting this post with a detour. But we have little choice. Before you go shopping around for landscape plants, you need to know the backstory. Invasive plants, trees, shrubs, vines and flowers, many of them brought from afar because yes, they’re lovely in the landscape, have become a bit too much of a good…Continue Reading Earth Day IPM for birds and bees — and native plants that nourish them
Plumbing issues lead to pest problems — there’s little doubt about that. Leaks offer standing water to rodents, and clogged, scummy drains are breeding sites for flies. How curious that one of the most common plumbing-related pest problems I see is drains and pipes without water. Case Study At a multi-story office building, workers reported…Continue Reading Fighting Waterbugs — with Water
Pollinator week — coming right up on June 20 — celebrates all pollinators. There’s honey bees, of course, but also native bees. In fact, NYS IPM-funded research has counted 104 known species alone in New York’s orchards. Of course, bees pollinate more than just orchards, and 450 species all told call New York home —…Continue Reading Got the Buzz? Pollinator Week Coming Up June 20 – 26