Africanized Honey Bees May be on Their Way to Valley

A long battle with mites apparently hampered the march of Africanized Honey Bees northward in California, but UC Davis bee specialist Eric Mussen believes they will eventually spread to the San Joaquin Valley. "We don't know how serious it will be, but with time, they'll probably get there," Mussen said. The bees are thriving in the desert habitats of Arizona, Nevada and California where bee food is abundant year round. While the Valley experiences colder winters, Mussen said that doesn't appear to deter the pest. In fact, Africanized Bees survive in the high-elevation city of Flagstaff, Arizona, where snow is a routine winter fixture. Even after a successful migration to the world's most productive agricultural area, Mussen said careful management by beekeepers will help them maintain the favorable genetic qualities of European bees in their colonies. "By replacing the queen with queens from bee breeders, they can keep their colonies in good shape," Mussen said. However, the extra expense of buying queen bees and labor costs for replacing existing queens will hurt the bottom line. Also the Africanized Honey Bees' aggressive nature and tendency to swarm will increase the risk of serious bee sting incidents to residents. For more information contact Eric Mussen at (530) 752-0472, ecmussen@ucdavis.edu.

Effective Education Using the Classic "Learning Cycle"

It's worked since the time of Socrates, but the "learning cycle" has been all but discarded in today's "tell and test" educational climate. Except, however, in more experiential learning processes such as those designed by the UCCE 4-H Youth Development Program. The learning cycle takes a hands-on approach to education allowing children to practically teach themselves by experimentation and discovery. "The leader of the group sets up the situation, poses the challenges, but the children work on it and discuss it," said 4-H Youth Development specialist Richard Ponzio. "The children learn from their own direct experience. They invent and construct knowledge." The process can be time consuming and may not lend itself to increasing school test scores, a measure that is used more and more in school funding decisions, teacher performance evaluations and even real estate prices. However, it pays different dividends. "The learning cycle leads to a deeper level of understanding," Ponzio said. "The more relevant and authentic the learning experiences, the more they can make a difference in students' lives." Ponzio will speak on the learning cycle during a satellite conference Saturday, March 6, to be down-linked in the San Joaquin Valley at the Merced UC Cooperative Extension office. For more information, contact Richard Mahacek, 4-H youth development advisor in Merced County, at (209) 385-7418, rlmahacek@ucdavis.edu.

Learning High Technology Keeps Farmers on Cutting Edge

Agriculture, like many industries, is being swamped by a tidal wave of innovation. And to maintain a competitive edge, farmers must stay on the cutting edge, according to the director of UC Cooperative Extension Merced County director Jim Farley. "Just as farmers are starting to get more comfortable with computers, a number of still newer technologies have appeared on the horizon to further improve yields and cut production costs," he said. Merced County UC Cooperative Extension is joining with the UC Merced Division of Professional Studies and UC Riverside Extension to brief growers and other ag industry professionals on how new technologies can be applied on California farms. Geographical information systems, global positioning systems, variable rate technology, remote telemetry and satellite imagery will be covered during the March 11-12 course "Precision Agriculture Using Geotechnologies" at the Merced Tri-College Center, 3600 M Street in Merced. The fee is $275. To enroll call toll-free (800) 442-4990. For more information, contact Jim Farley at (209) 385-7403, jlfarley@ucdavis.edu.

Jeannette Warnert
Public Information Representative
Ag and Natural Resources
UC Center
550 E. Shaw Avenue
Fresno, CA 93710