A Honey of An Award
Honey Bee Health Specialist Brandon Hopkins was part of a group that won the prestigious Team Interdisciplinary Award from the Washington State University College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resources Sciences. His Honey Bee Health Team was recognized for pioneering new ways to improve honey bee health, engaging the scientific community, collaborating with beekeepers, and educating the public across the state and worldwide.
Hopkins is known for developing honey bee semen preservation techniques and is a recognized leader in honey bee germplasm cryopreservation and the use of controlled atmosphere facilities for honey bee overwintering and disease treatment. Other team members included: Walter “Steve” Sheppard, who oversees a program that enhances US honey bee breeding stock through germplasm importation from bees’ native ranges; Tim Lawrence, who educates pesticide applicators, growers, and the public to reduce pesticide exposure and improve pollinator habitat; Susan Cobey, an authority in instrumental insemination and controlled breeding in honey bee populations; Jennifer Han, who is working to develop a biological control agent against the parasitic Varroa mite; virus specialist Nicholas Naeger; and Erin O’Rourke, who manages the WSU bee diagnostic laboratory.
Congratulations to Brandon and the Honey Bee Health Team!
Tree Fruit Team Takes Honors at PBESA
Tree Fruit IPM Extension Specialist Betsy Beers and her team were active in IPM outreach at the Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America annual meeting March 31-April 3 in San Diego. This 103rd Annual Meeting, themed Stories of Our Science (pdf), included presentations by Beers, her colleagues, and her students.
- James Hepler took first place in the PhD student oral presentation competition (“The Poncho Trap: A novel attract-and-kill BMSB [brown marmorated stink bug] trap design”).
- Adrian Marshall won first prize in the PhD Student poster competition (“Evaluating shade netting for sustainable codling moth management”).
- Josh Milnes, MS student, presented “Ecology of the Asian egg parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead), in Washington State”).
- Colleague Tobin Northfield gave a talk on issues to consider in adapting SIR [sterile insect release] from eradication to IPM, co-authored by Beers.
Beers also co-organized the Mighty Spider Mites symposium with State IPM Coordinator and Extension IPM Team Leader Doug Walsh, in which she made a presentation on mites in tree fruits. Beers, on the strength of her 33 years as an IPM educator in Washington’s iconic tree fruit industry, is the incoming President of the Pacific Branch ESA for 2020.
Controlling Mites & Thrips/Protecting Pollinators
In addition to co-organizing the Mighty Spider Mites session at the Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America annual meeting in San Diego (see article above) and making a presentation on spider mites in hops, Washington State IPM Coordinator and Extension Entomologist Doug Walsh brought graduate students to present results of their research.
- PhD candidate Adekunle Adesanya:
- Gave a talk on “Transcriptional plasticity of a generalist herbivore in adaptation to mite growth inhibitors” and
- Presented a poster entitled “Multiple insecticide resistance in onion thrips populations” highlighting work recently completed in collaboration with Extension IPM team member Tim Waters.
- MS student Greta Dupuis presented “Soil temperature modeling to predict emergence of alkali bees (Nomia melanderi) in alfalfa seed fields of Washington State.”
Walsh also organized and conducted an alfalfa seed field day in Touchet on June 18, emphasizing pollinator protection in an IPM context. Outreach in hops this quarter included meetings with growers and commission members in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. With PhD candidate Jonathan O’Hearn and research assistant Peter Forrence, Walsh co-authored an article on potential red blotch vector buffalo treehopper for the Spring edition of WSU Viticulture and Enology Extension News (pdf).
Citizen Scientists Trained in Bumble Bee Conservation
Urban IPM Coordinator Carrie Foss, in cooperation with Oregon State University, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Agriculture, and the Xerces Society, conducted a Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas training on June 15. Aspiring citizen scientists met at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center for a morning classroom session, then took an afternoon field trip to a nearby habitat to practice bumble bee identification and survey techniques. The sixty participants learned how to do a basic habitat assessment, sample an area for foraging bumble bees, photograph the bee(s), and submit data to the Atlas project including how to submit observations and habitat data through Bumble Bee Watch.
Of the nearly 30 species of bumble bees present in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, seven were identified during the 90-minute active collection session. The PNW Bumble Bee Atlas is aimed at tracking and conserving the bumble bees in the Pacific Northwest. Online training is also available.
Looking at Lygus/Vanquishing Viruses
Regional Vegetable Specialist Tim Waters spoke at the WSU Potato Field Day on June 27, which was attended by 250-300+ industry members and was covered by Potato Country magazine and Capital Press newspaper. Waters’ presentation, The Impact of Lygus Feeding on Potato Yield and Quality, included a field demonstration and a discussion of his recent and ongoing research on this pest in potato. Utilizing mesh cages in-field, these studies indicate that Lygus—not previously considered an economic pest of potato—may be negatively impacting Columbia Basin potatoes.
Waters also participates in a team led by WSU Horticulturist Mark Pavek that evaluates grower-submitted potato seed samples for the presence of seed-borne viruses such as Potato Virus Y. Earlier in the spring, these samples are planted in a research block at the WSU Othello Unit. On Potato Field Day, growers can observe the resulting virus load on the various plantings. An hour of the field day is devoted to this Seed Lot Trial, which emphasizes the importance of sanitation and virus-free seed in an IPM program.
A Variety of Voices in the Vineyard
Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer edited and released the Spring edition of WSU Viticulture and Enology Extension News (pdf) this quarter. This issue dealt with a variety of topics pertinent to this year’s early growing season when, as Moyer put it “the winter that would not come, became the winter that would not leave.” Articles included:
- Buffalo Treehopper: A Potential Red Blotch Vector in WA? (Spoiler alert, it’s not the problem some had feared…so far.)
- Solid Set Canopy Delivery System for WA Vineyards, detailing progress toward optimizing this chemical delivery method by WSU’s CPAAS Team and their Michigan State University cooperators.
- Avoiding Selection of Fungicide Resistance, a succinct primer on this hot topic by FRAME Project Manager Charlotte Oliver.
- The Tale of Two Rots: Sour Rot and Botrytis Bunch Rot by guest author Megan Hall from the University of Missouri.
- A summary of the projects for which the Washington State Grape and Wine Research Program has allocated funding in this fiscal year.
- And Moyer’s own review of the updates underway with WSU’s Pesticide Information Center Online (PICOL)
Also this quarter, Moyer organized and conducted her popular Viticulture Intern Boot Camp to a sold-out audience on May 30. Moyer continues her ongoing outreach with the Viticulture Extension Facebook Page and Twitter account (@WSU_Vit_Ext).
Spreading the Gospel of Grafting to All Ages
Vegetable Horticulture specialist Carol Miles and her graduate students Pinki Devi (PhD candidate) and Abigail Attavar (MS candidate) conducted the following outreach sessions this quarter:
- Melon growers, Master Gardeners, faculty, post-doc and graduate students attended Watermelon Grafting: Hands-On Training on April 12 at Oregon State University (OSU) Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, held in collaboration with OSU’s Dr. Scott Lukas. Participants learned two grafting methods (one-cotyledon and splice) and viewed a healing chamber demonstration.
- Devi and Attavar made presentations to high school students on April 18, 29, and 30 at venues including WSU Everett, WSU Mount Vernon NWREC, and Cascade High School. Sessions included demonstrations of grafting and a discussion of the advantages of grafting for biological disease management.
- To spark interest in agriculture and science, Devi taught a class to 1st and 2nd graders from Island View Elementary Challenge Program on Measuring Sugars in Fruit on May 2 at WSU Mount Vernon NWREC. The interactive lesson taught students the concept of refraction, how refraction is used for measuring sweetness, and how to read a refractometer.
- When the WSU Graduate Student Tour visited WSU Mount Vernon NWREC on May 8, the team spoke about their ongoing work in vegetable grafting and its role as a biological control tactic to mitigate biotic and abiotic stresses.