Our Organic Northwest

Why Are Wasps So Grumpy?

RICHLAND, WA - In the Northwest, nights are getting cooler and days are getting shorter as we head into fall. It also means that wasps are swirling around the dead bugs on your car bumper and your family picnic this Labor Day. Correspondent Anna King found out there’s a reason behind their cranky behavior.

Read more.  Listen here.

Eastern Washington Officials Foresee Grasshopper Population Explosion

By: Emily Easley

Eastern Washington officials and agriculture experts are concerned about a potentially devastating grasshopper infestation next season. This summer, northeastern Oregon was faced with its own grasshopper epidemic. Oregon Congressman Greg Walden called upon the state to help provide important protection for Oregon farms and forests from crippling infestations.

“Eastern Oregon is under the threat of being overrun by invasive grasshoppers that harm agricultural production lands,” Walden said.

Experts predict next year will be one of the worst grasshopper seasons that Oregon has ever seen.

Whitman County Extension Educator Stephen M. Van Vleet and USDA Associate Larry Skillestad have recognized the problem and plan to do something about it.

“Eradication is not possible,” Stephen M. Van Vleet said. “We can only contain the problem with grasshoppers.”

According to the Baker City Herald, the main contributing factor that creates and elongates this already devastating problem is a female grasshopper’s ability to lay up to 200 eggs in just one summer. Each egg pod is filled with dozens of grain-sized larva. Female grasshoppers lay their eggs underground, where they stay for months until they hatch. By the following summer, farmers are stuck with a massive problem that continues to grow throughout the summer.

Grasshoppers naturally gravitate towards dry weather and start to show up in late May or early June when the temperature starts to rise. By the end of a long dry summer, a grasshopper population can swell to the point where crops are destroyed. They commonly live in large groups and in dry weather will reproduce at an alarming rate.

Monoculture crops, which are very prevalent in southeastern Washington, are a large part of a grasshopper’s diet. Grasshoppers will eat most everything though, even each other.

Grasshopper eradication methods include contact sprays and baiting. Contact sprays of emerging populations can work, especially when applied to the edges of a yet to be effected area. Baits consist of food, oats and grains laced with toxic chemicals. They tend to kill very quickly, literally dropping populations where they cross the poisonous food.

Stephen M. Van Vleet and Larry Skillestad will help orchestrate a plan for Washington’s problem with grasshoppers. They will work with Whitman and Adams County agents, county commissioners, state legislators, and possibly some national officials on a plan to include Whitman County and Adams County.

Bees' Uncertain Future

A few weeks ago, Anna King reported that bees are playing a role in what is expected to be a poor cherry harvest this year. The reason: the weather was too cold for them to pollinate. Bees are critical to the livelihood of thousands of people in Washington State and this year, we're facing cold weather AND a continuing phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.

Image taken by Esther Anderson.

The Washington State Beekeepers Association estimates overall statewide losses to the disease at between 35 percent and 50 percent in recent years. With eight of 10 of Washington’s most valuable crops – including apples – being “bee dependent,” Colony Collapse Disorder left unchecked could jeopardize the state’s agricultural economy.

Saving Bees From Pesticides

Colony collapse is probably due to a number of factors. One factor in the decline of the honey bee is the widespread use of pesticides.

Here are some common culprits:

• organophosphates (acephate, azinphos-methyl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dimethhoate, malathion, methamidophos and methyl parathion), which kill by disrupting brains and nervous systems.
• n-methyl carbamates (carbaryl and carbofuran), central nervous system attackers,
• Neonicotinoids (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam), artificial forms of nicotine which act as neurotoxins.

Oregon State University just released a great report to help anyone identify and report bee poisoning. It seems that most bee poisoning happens when insecticides are applied to both bee-pollinated crops and to crops in fields adjacent to bee populations.

Image taken by Esther Anderson.

To Bee or Not to Bee

little honey bee, originally uploaded by Daniel R. Myers.

Can you recognize one of the farmer's best friends? Many of us get confused and there are some great resources to help. If you can't tell a bee from a yellowjacket, try this link from UC Riverside.

Theories Buzz Around Bee Deaths

July 18, 2007

A mysterious phenomenon dubbed "colony collapse disorder" is causing quite the buzz in the beekeeping and farming communities. Washington State University is searching for the cause, but an Oregon State University bee expert shares doubts that this syndrome represents anything out of the ordinary.

Image taken by Esther Anderson.

Tom Banse has more on the story.