Picture it: it’s a beautiful spring day, and you’re walking through your early bedding crops. The sun is shining, it’s a breezy 60ºF (15ºC) out, and you’re thinking, “thank goodness I don’t have to worry about insect pest problems yet! It’s far too cold. After all, bugs like it hot.”
And then you see it.
Cast skins. Honeydew. Distorted leaves. Hand trembling, you turn over a leaf and see … APHIDS!
Decisions, Decisions: House-Hunting Honey Bees Work Like Complex Brains
House-hunting is full of decisions, for us and honey bees. One early decision we both face is where to live. P. Kirk Visscher at the University of California, Riverside, often in collaboration with Thomas Seeley at Cornell University, NY, has long been studying how honey bees make these decisions.
Edible Insects Produce Smaller Quantities of Greenhouse Gasses Than Cattle
Insects produce much smaller quantities of greenhouse gases per kilogram of meat than cattle and pigs. This is the conclusion of scientists at Wageningen University who have joined forces with government and industry to investigate whether the rearing of insects could contribute to more sustainable protein production. Insect meat could therefore form an alternative to more conventional types of meat.
Big Pest, Small Genome: Two-Spotted Spider Mite Genome Decoded
ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2011) — A University of Utah biologist and an international research team decoded the genetic blueprint of the two-spotted spider mite, raising hope for new ways to attack the major pest, which resists pesticides and destroys crops and ornamental plants worldwide.
'Zombie' Worms Found in Mediterranean Fossil
ScienceDaily (Nov. 1, 2011) — Traces of bizarre, bone-eating 'zombie' worms have been found on a 3-million-year-old fossil whale bone from Tuscany in Italy. It is the first time the genus Osedax has been found in the Mediterranean, and suggests Osedax were widespread throughout the world's oceans 6 million years ago.
Glistening in the early morning, these insects look like creatures from another planet as dew gathers on their sleeping bodies. This is some the most incredible insect photography I have seen, please click on the link to see more. To see he rest of this article click here
Maggot Art
I am sure you have been asked on Monday morning, what did you do this weekend? Well, for me who works with insects all week, I also work with insects on the weekend. This weekend I did an art project for children using insects. Here is our finished artwork entitled Maggot Art #1. Enjoy
Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others?
Praying Mantis babies are growing !!
On Wednesday May 11th the first egg case hatched many babies. Now on June 9th they have doubled in size. We are still feeding the Fly Parasites but soon will move to larger prey.
The weather has finally warmed up and we are actually seeing sunshine - hurray!!
We are launching our new 12 page catalogue next week - we will be mailing to many of you and hand delivering in the Toronto area. This smaller version is to show you new products and some of our favourites. The information is limited so please visit our web site for more details.
Get Inspired!
At seventy-five years old, David Suzuki shows no signs of slowing down. In this captivating documentary portrait, the passionate environmentalist's legacy lecture is entwined with candid interviews in which he reflects on his life and shares deeply personal stories, revealing a side previously unseen
Click Here to see a preview.
Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention, Stop by our booth!
The 9th edition of the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention will be held on February 23 and 24, 2011. Speaker sessions covering a variety of industry specific topics, educational workshops, the Farmer's and Friends evening networking event and a tradeshow featuring over 150 exhibitors highlight this year's event. NIC will be displaying a variety of beneficial insect, sticky cards and our Canadian Nematodes. Stop by our booth. Click Here for more Infromation
Groundhog Day: A History, And 5 Facts You Didn't Know
Groundhog Day is held on Feb. 2, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania every year, and you might be wondering how a groundhog landed the job of predicting the weather. If you're unfamiliar with the tradition, it goes like this: If the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, sees his shadow, we're stuck with six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, we luck out with an early spring.
Here is a challenge for any Entomologist out there! Click Here
Posted January 17, 2011
Green Resolution
Resolutions are often made by thinking about individual change such as losing weight, quitting smoking or pay off debts in the New Year. So let’s start January with “Green Resolutions”. By making these simple changes you will reduce your ecological footprint on our Earth.
At the grocery store bring your own bags. It is estimated that in the United States twelve million barrels of oil were used to make the 88.5 billion plastic bags. And it takes four times more energy to make paper bags. The best choice is reusable shopping bags made of cotton, nylon or durable, mesh-like plastic and make sure to put them in your car. If you happen to forget your reusable bag (as we all do!), choose paper if you will recycle it or plastic if you will reuse or recycle it.
Turn down your thermostat by just 2 degrees. Electric power plants are the country's largest industrial source of the pollutants that cause global warming. By setting your thermostat in winter to 68 degrees F (20° C) or less during the daytime and 55 degrees F (13° C) before going to sleep or when you are away for the day. And during the summer, set thermostats to 78 degrees F (26° C) or more. These simple changes will save pounds of pollution and keep some money in your pocket.
Be a less wasteful shopper and recycle. To reduce the amount of waste you produce, buy products in returnable and recyclable containers and recycle as much as you can. The energy saved from recycling a single aluminum can operate a television for three hours!
Wash it in cold water. Did you know that only 10 percent of the energy used by a typical washing machine powers the motor? About 90 percent of the energy is used to heat the water. Most clothes will come clean in cold water. So switch your washing machine's temperature setting. This will also lower your water heating costs.
Posted January 4, 2011
Three new frogs leap into spotlight
"Finding three new species in such a short space of time speaks to the incredibly rich biodiversity of these relatively unexplored forests, and highlights their importance for conservation," Moore said. "Protecting these habitats into the future will be essential to ensure the survival of both the amphibians and the benefits that they bring to ecosystems and people."
Discover these new species for yourself, Click Here
Posted November 18, 2010
Monarch Butterfly Migration
The annual Fall monarch butterfly migration is an astounding thing. Hundreds of millions of orange-winged insects, traveling upwards of 30 miles a day, so that damn near every monarch in North America can converge on the same small patch of Mexico. In these over-wintering grounds, the monarch butterflies hang from the trees in clumps so thick that they look like dense leaves. You can end up with as many as 50 million butterflies on an area of land a little smaller than two-and-a-half soccer fields.
And what happens when all those butterflies wake up in Spring? In this clip from National Geographic's upcoming Great Migrations series, monarchs open their eyes, stretch their wings and proceed to get it on.
Find all the “organic” information in Canada. Click Here for Canadian Organic Growers Website.
Posted October 12, 2010
Long Awaited Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize.
Here are a few lessons from this humorous ceremony: Fruit bats like oral sex. Swearing relieves pain. Roller-coaster rides can relieve asthma. Oil and water do mix sometimes. And the best way to figure out who gets a promotion just might be to pull names out of a hat.
What are those white spots on the back of the head of the Japanese beetle adults?
Many of the early-emerging Japanese beetle adults have had eggs of the "winsome fly" attached to the thorax. In one site a little north of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA; about 30% of the beetles appear to be parasitized. If you see beetles with small white specks on the thorax or back of the head, let those beetles go. The parasitoid will kill the beetle quite quickly, and the attacking larva needs the cadaver to survive until next spring. Usually the rate of parasitization goes down as we move into the summer
Help our Bats! White-nose Syndrome has devastated bat populations across the eastern United States during the past four years, causing “the most precipitous wildlife decline in the past century in North America,” according to biologists.
See the rest of article at: Click Here
Posted April 22, 2010
Where are the Martins!
Welcome to the Purple Martin Conservation Association's 2010 scout-arrival page. At this site, we collect and disseminate Purple Martin migration reports from all across North America. See Where the Martins Are
Posted April 5, 2010
Know your Risks!
See excellent 10-minute video Lawn and Garden Pesticides: Reducing Harm by Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. See the video click here
Posted March 22, 2010
Let’s get Seedy
Many gardeners are thinking about starting their seeds indoors. Here is an informative article to get you ready. If you are looking for a gentle natural fertilizer for your seedling, try our kelp or fish.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Bluebirds. Great educational resource for bluebirds in North America.
Link to the North American Bluebird Society: Click Here
Link to Ontario Eastern Bluebird Society: Click Here
Posted March 8, 2010
I am Canadian and we dream big and green! Check out what our winter Olympics are doing for the environment. Also do you recognize this graphic? We have used it for the past seasons for our marketing campaign.
WHISTLER, B.C. _ There´s more than one kind of Olympic gold in them thar hills.
Whistler Village is turning mountains of garbage, and rivers of - well, let´s just say gold and bronze into black gold at its spanking new, if rather malodorous, multi-million-dollar composting facility.
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler have been selling themselves as the greenest Games ever. The municipality of Whistler, along with nearby Pemberton and Squamish, are doing their part.
Check out these incredible natural predators, the Praying Mantis.
Worldwide there are 2,000 species of praying mantis, most of them in the subtropical and tropical regions of the Old and New Worlds, although some also inhabit the temperate zones. Wherever they may live, all mantises have one thing in common: they are voracious predators and will devour any creature they can overwhelm. This program explores the world of these 'real aliens'. In Unprecedented images it shows how mantises live, reproduce and die. But, biological processes are not the film's only focus. It features the largest and rarest representatives of the mantis family, several of which have never been filmed before.
This goes beyond ladybugs and 100 mile diet. Can the small farm survive?
While 100-mile dieters provide a ray of hope, small-scale farmers the world over continue to face intense pressures, and many are still forced out of farming each year. In response, we need to think carefully about our aspirations for the 21st century food system.
From a sustainability perspective, what are the advantages and disadvantages of farming and food distribution on a small scale? And what policy measures or distribution models need to be in place to ensure that any advantages of small-scale food production systems are retained in light of the pressures on farms to grow and adapt?
Thinking about Fly Control on your Farm? We offer fly parasites and predators and beneficial nematodes to control your flies. Ask us for a free recommendation!
Beneficial Insects: Good Buys For Flies
Courtesy of Natural Horse Magazine
Wouldn't you love to say good-bye to biting, stinging, pesky flies? And mean it? Better yet, wouldn't you love to never have to say hello to them? I would. Flies are a part of the horse world where there is a horse, there is manure, and where there are horses and manure, there are flies. Flies such as house flies, horn flies, stable flies, greenhead flies, deer flies, snipe flies, black flies and whatever other unfavorites you can think of breed in the manure and feed on the horse's (and your) blood. Flies are annoying and can cause many problems. There is no escaping them; or is there?
