By Sara Bushmann In May and June of 2010 and 2011, I collected wild bees from 24 blueberry fields in Hancock County in the towns of Orland, Penobscot, Sedgwick and Blue Hill. By “wild” bees I mean any bee that is not a honeybee or a commercial bumblebee. Most of the wild bees are native, […]
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By Sara Bushmann, University of Maine Welcome to the Pollinator Posts! On these web pages, I’ll provide updates on some of the pollinator research projects being conducted in (mostly) Hancock and Washington Counties. Look for two more posts this year on or around October 15 and November 15, and then again in April and May […]
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By Frank Drummond The state of Maine has secured a Section 18 “Crisis Exemption” registration for a higher rate of Malathion 8Fl that is more effective for the SWD than the lower rate on the existing label. This higher rate is in EFFECT on August 13 and only lasts for 15 days (August 13-28). If […]
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Dear Blueberry Growers, Many of you have started harvesting. The spotted wing drosophila has been found strawberry and raspberry fields in southern Maine so far, especially in the vicinity of Warren, where one trap in a strawberry field contained 98 SWD flies. We are trapping 30 blueberry fields and found one SWD fly in a […]
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By Seanna Annis There are a number of different problems you may be seeing symptoms of in your crop field. Please see below for some pictures of common problems at this time of the year. Frost Damage All flower clusters on stem typically are affected Closed flowers not affected as much Leaves can be damaged, […]
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By Seanna Annis Hancock and Washington Counties Mummy berry season appears to be finished in most areas finally. This has been one of the longest seasons of mummy berry cups in the last five years. From Tuesday, May 15, dried up cups with no mature cups were seen in Ellsworth, Silsby Plain (Aurora), Deblois, in […]
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By Seanna Annis Hancock and Washington Counties Some fields have had infection periods over the weekend. Most sites except those close to the coast had infection periods over Sunday night through Monday. Two fields, Montegail Pond (Township 19) and Meddybemps had infection periods over Saturday night into Sunday and Sunday night into Monday. Unfortunately, there […]
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By Seanna Annis Hancock and Washington Counties Mature mummy berry cups are still found throughout this area and some pinheads are still present. I expect the cups to be present through at least part of next week. Infection periods did occur in many fields overnight from Friday through Saturday morning. Please see below for start […]
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By Seanna Annis Waldo, Lincoln, Knox Counties In later, wet fields, there may have been a few last cups present but there was likely little chance of infection in these areas this past week. Hancock and Washington Counties Mature mummy berry cups and new pinheads have still be found in these areas. The rain since […]
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By Seanna Annis Mummy Berry Symptoms You may start to see mummy berry disease symptoms on your plants in the next few weeks. Even with very good control, a low number of dead, infected leaves or flowers may still occur. The spores produced on these dead leaves and flowers will not be able to kill […]
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