Update on Honeybees and CCD

This week's ARS Newslink, produced by the Agricultural Research Service, has an update on work being done to understand the causes and impacts of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). A survey done this year indicated that more than a third of beekeepers in the USA had at least one honeybee colony where all adult bees were lost, a key symptom of CCD. Unfortunately, the cause behind these losses continues to elude biologists. To address this, the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Maryland has enlisted beekeepers to allow regular sampling of healthy hives, with the hope that studying these hives will help researchers understand what causes CCD when it does occur.

For more information about Colony Collapse Disorder, check out the full article in the May/June 2008 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Flies on the Attack

If you are in Wellesley, MA tomorrow, keep your eyes peeled for swarms of tiny but powerful (and beneficial!) flies. A team of researchers at UMass Amherst, led by Joe Elkinton, is set to release 1,000 parasitic flies (Cyzenis albicans) in Wellesley in an effort to combat the winter moth caterpillars (Operophtera brumata) currently defoliating deciduous trees across the eastern part of the state. Read more in this story from The Boston Globe.

News for Growers

If you are a commercial grower of greenhouse crops or flowers, check out the New England Greenhouse Update. Produced by Cooperative Extension specialists around New England, this weblog will keep you informed with timely information, from advice about when and how to move greenhouse plants outdoors, to dealing with plants pests and pathogens.

The New England Greenhouse Update has been posting helpful information for growers on the internet since 2005. Because the articles are posted in a "blog" format, you can subscribe to the feed with your favorite news/RSS reader and make sure you never miss an update.

Seeking Healthy Hemlocks

Have you spotted any healthy hemlock trees in your walks through the forested land of this state? If so, researchers at the University of Rhode Island may be interested in your find. An effort is underway to find eastern hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis) resistant to two introduced pests, woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) and elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa), with the goal of raising healthy new trees from cuttings taken from resistant individuals.

You might have found a good candidate tree if it meets the following requirements:

• in a forested setting
  
• at least 10 feet tall
  
• relatively free of signs of the woolly adelgid
  
• has deep green needles on full, thick branches
  
• surrounded by dead, mature hemlock trees
  
• naturally resistant (not treated using insecticides or other control measures)

Report possible sightings to URI grad student Laura Ingwell by phone, at 401-874-4083, or by email at: hemlock AT etal DOT uri DOT edu.

Read more about the search for healthy hemlocks in this article from the Providence Journal, or this URI press release. If you want to learn more about how to identify the eastern hemlock, try this site or this one.

Update: Gladiolus Rust

The April Pest Alert for Gladiolus Rust (Uromyces transversalis) has been updated to reflect information about the recent discovery of this fungal pathogen on gladiolus plants in Minnesota (check out a map of the US distribution here, courtesy of the National Agricultural Pest Information System). Until this past April, the only US records for this species were in California and Florida. The Minnesota record represents the most northern US location where the rust fungus has been found, by far - more information will be posted when it become available.

Gladiolus rust remains a problem mainly for nurseries that grow gladiolus for sale as cut flowers. But if you grow gladiolus (or related tropical plants in the Iris family [Iridaceae], including Crocosmia, Tritonia and Watsonia species) or know someone who does, it is worth checking out the links at the bottom of the pest alert so you know what to look for in case you ever encounter this destructive pathogen.

Biocontrol Successes

There is a good article in the Boston Globe today summarizing the state's work on the Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol Project. Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is one of the 141 plant species on the state's Prohibited Plant List, and was categorized as invasive by the Massachusetts Invasive Plant Advisory Group.

Beth Suedmeyer of the Massachusetts Wetlands Restoration Program currently heads the biocontrol project, which has released over 300,000 Galerucella beetles to eat purple loosestrife since 2000. As with most biological controls, a Galerucella beetle attack does not immediately destroy purple loosestrife, rather, the beetles are a tool used to keep current populations of this invasive plant in check.

Suedmeyer is now training citizen scientists to raise and release the beetles, which have shown some evidence of beginning to breed and spread on their own. Visit the Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol Project for more information, including how you can raise beetles and what to do if you see a Galerucella beetle in the wild.

Invasive Plant Training

If you are a Massachusetts resident concerned about invasive plants, consider signing up for one of the IPANE Volunteer Training Sessions being held this May and June. IPANE teaches volunteers how to identify invasive plants and enlists them to conduct monitoring surveys across New England. The beginner training for western Massachusetts is coming up soon, on May 3, and there is also a Getting Started Workshop for the Appalachian Trail in Sheffield, MA.

If you really want to get your hands dirty, there are also invasive plant pulling events throughout the spring and summer, including one for water chestnut (Trapa natans) in Rowley and glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus) in Winchendon. Check out the IPANE volunteer page for a complete listing.