Amador

Everyone, and I mean EVERY one, is all smiles as the 2018 California foothill winegrape harvest sails in on cool weather after a bit of a tumultuous season.

Hear that buzz? Tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 18) is National Honey Bee Day. A small group of beekeepers originated the observance back in 2009 to spotlight bees and beekeeping. They petitioned and obtained a proclamation from the U.S.

Postdoctoral scholar Laura Brutscher of the Elina Lastro Nio lab, University of California, Davis, kneels by an educational beekeeping display: a beehive, a smoker, a hive tool and beekeeper protective gear.

Amazing what a difference two years makes! I looked forward to returning to the desert that is California; not something I could have imagined my first summer in CA. Both Guam and Oahu were miserably hot and humid.

Unprecedented Study Discovers what Urban Coyotes Really Eat (Care2) Laura Goldman, March 30 Hiking boots, avocados, candy wrappers and fast-food containers.

Foothill Grape Day 2018 will be held Thursday, March 29 from 7:30 a.m.to 3:00 p.m. at the Amador County Fairgrounds in Pokerville Hall. This year's theme is "Vine Balance", which I think of as the sweet spot in growing a particular block of grapes.

Johnson named nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor Cathryn Katie Johnson joined UCCE on Jan. 2, 2018, as an area nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for the Central Sierra Multi-County Partnership serving El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.

Ah, rain! It's good for the drought and it's good for the rain beetles. If you've never seen a rain beetle (genus Pleocoma) no worries. Most people haven't, either.

Female (top), male and female in copulation (middle) and a mature nymph (bottom) of Bagrada bug on a dime. (Photo by Surendra Dara) Bagrada bug (Bagrada hilaris) is an invasive pest that was first reported in California in 2008 in Los Angeles County.

Just received an e-mail listing of seven (7) UC Cooperative Extension folks retiring in June 2014.