Serious news about invasive flies, noodling by our apiarist about the value of a single bee and some answers to the burning question, “What month is this, anyhow?”
Two fruit flies can be expensive
State Inspector checking a fruit fly trap.
An intensified trapping program is underway in the Boynton Beach area of Palm Beach County after two guava fruit flies were collected during routine trapping activities and confirmed in the laboratory. When exotic fruit flies are detected, hundreds of addition traps are placed around the positive finds and checked daily for one week to determine whether a reproducing population of the invasive pest is present. If the trapping turns up no additional fly, traps will continue to be checked every week for three life cycles of the fly — in the current case that is approximately 60 days — before declaring the flies eradicated. If inspectors find an additional fly or infested fruit, officials will take decisive action. This may involve bait spray treatments, soil drenching and possibly removal of fruit on host trees near the properties, as appropriate. See our full post.
. . . and one honey bee is valuable
Turns out even one Florida honey bee is valuable, exercising earning power for pollination services as well as honey production. We published a guest blog written by State Apiarist David Westervelt in which he calculates the value of a single Florida honey bee.
Help protect Florida agriculture
Most of Florida has been getting its share of rain this week, prompting us to remind everyone, but particularly residents of South Florida, to watch for the giant African land snail and report any suspects. Our FDACS teams have been working since 2011 to eradicate the invasive snail from parts of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
We are also persisting in our Save the Guac campaign. Florida avocados are coming to market this month. Avocado production is an important part of Florida’s agricultural production, yet the trees are under attack from the laurel wilt disease which is spread by the redbay ambrosia beetle. One way to keep the beetle from spreading: Don’t Move Firewood when you travel and camp.
June is a prime vacation month. Please remember, when you travel internationally, “Don’t Pack a Pest.” Learn about the awareness program and what products are allowed in luggage at http://dontpackapest.com
What month is this?
This is, among other designations, Great Outdoors Month, and we passed along a tweet from our colleagues at Florida State Parks (@FLStateParks) reminding everyone that Florida has 171 award-winning state parks and trails. “Family. Friends. Fun. Prices you can afford, experiences you can’t afford to miss.” Need we say more?
June is also designated National Safety Month. The National Safety Council posted the Journey to Safety Excellence, a roadmap to help build a workplace that keeps people safe. It comes with free, practical tools collected from 100 years of experience. http://www.nsc.org/learn/NSC-Initiatives/Pages/journey-to-safety-excellence.aspx
Many other associations and causes are celebrating June as “their” month. Sampling Chase’s Calendar of Events, we found June is variously designated as: Accordion Awareness Month, Bathroom Reading Month, Adopt-a-Shelter Cat Month, International Men’s Month, Georgia Blueberry Month, Iced Tea Month, Skyscraper Month and — an old friend of ours – National Dairy Month.
Prepare. Hurricane Season is afoot
In Florida, June ushers in hurricane season. Countless reminders have been posted by state and federal agencies urging residents to adopt and review their family hurricane preparedness plan and to have emergency supplies and equipment at the ready. We passed along a note from Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam containing guidelines for charitable giving following a disaster.
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Filed under: Diary Tagged: Ambrosia beetle, avocado, camping, dairy, don'tpackapest.com, DPI, FDACS, FDACS-DPI, firewood, GALS, Guac, guava, guava fruit fly, laurel wilt, safety, snail, state parks, vacation
