December 1994
NORTH CAROLINA VEGETABLE EXPO
The North Carolina Vegetable Grower's Association will be conducting the North Carolina Vegetable Expo at the Holiday Inn Four Seasons in Greensboro, NC. This event will take place on January 9-11, 1995. Attending this expo will give you the opportunity to get some up-to-date information on such topics as tomatoes, beans, peas, small acreage farming, sustainable production and marketing.
Do you have questions concerning migrant labor topics? Do you have questions about sweet corn, cucumbers or the use of natural pest controls? If so, then you should attend the expo. Registration for the expo is $25, which includes sessions, trade show, break refreshments, Tuesdays lunch and a copy of the proceedings. Call the hotel directly for room reservations: 1-800-242-6556. To register for the expo itself, mail the form to Rhoda Kriz at the address on the form. A form is enclosed with this newsletter. If you would like a copy of the program schedule, contact me or pick one up at our office.
CALLING ALL PECAN GROWERS
Attention all pecan growers or potential growers, a pecan growers association has been formed to serve North Carolina producers. The purpose of this association is to help facilitate the transfer of information that will help growers and to improve marketing efforts. If you've been having trouble selling your pecans or growing them, then you should consider joining this association.
A formal organizational meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m., on January 19, 1995 at the Wayne County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, in Goldsboro, NC. This meeting will be open to all interested persons who have pecan trees.
At this time, I am not aware of anyone growing pecans commercially, in Cumberland County. If you are a commercial pecan grower or if any of you know of someone who is and does not receive this newsletter, please let me know, so that we can start providing helpful programs to this industry. If you desire more information about the pecan growers' association, please contact me.
FEAR NOT, POINSETTIAS AREN'T POISONOUS
Those of you who are in the floriculture business or operate a garden center, will probably hear over and over again the question: "Are poinsettias poisonous?" Please assure your customers that poinsettias are not poisonous. Though I don't advocate the consumption of poinsettias as a regular source of fiber in your diet, if some poinsettia tissue is consumed, the worst case scenario is probably an upset stomach.
ATTENTION STRAWBERRY GROWERS
The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service is trying to determine the average number of acres that a typical strawberry farmer grows in North Carolina. Hopefully, this information will help us to direct our programs more appropriately to your needs. To gather this information, we need your help I have met or talked to several of the strawberry growers in the county, but there might be some growers that I am not aware of at this time. If you are a strawberry grower of if you know someone who is, please call me and give the following information:
HONEYBEES ARE BEING USED TO SPREAD BIOLOGICAL PEST CONTROL AGENTS
Some interesting research is being done by scientists from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. They are using honeybees to distribute a virus, that attacks corn earworm larvae being killed by the virus, in fields where it has been used.
How is this being accomplished? These researchers have developed a device that is placed on the bottom of a standard beehive that forces the bees to walk over a pan as they exit the hive. In this pan is placed a mixture of talcum powder and the virus. This dust gets on the bees feet and legs as they exit the hive and is rubbed off onto the plants as the bees visit the flowers. This places the virus where it will come in contact with and infect the pest.
Why honeybees? During the lifetime of a typical honey bee worker, she will visit thousands of flowers in search of nectar and pollen that she carries back to the hive. The average beehive will have between 30-60 thousand worker bees. These bees will normally keep their foraging activities within a 2 mile radius of their hive. These factors make the honey bee an excellent distributor of these biological pest control agents.
This particular pest control tactic is new and the virus for the corn earworm is the only pest control agent that has been used so far. This method should be useful for distributing other biological agents, as long as they are not harmful to the bees. This could be an exciting development for both beekeepers and growers who rent beehives to pollinate their crops, however, this tactic would be limited to crops that attract honey bees. I'll keep you posted as new information becomes available.
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