C*4.mcMter Fanning, Saturday, January 1, 2000
Courier Bees Help Reduce
Costly Fungi, Impact On Environment
WOOSTER, Ohio - Forget
the tractor, the sprayer and the
labor. An Ohio State University
researcher has found that bees
are ready and able to deliver bio
controls to strawberry plants.
Not only do the courier bees
help protect berries from the
fungi Botrytis, fruit yields
increased too, said Joe Kovach,
director of the Integrated Pest
Management program at Ohio
State University.
Kovach will discuss the use of
bees for Botrytis fruit rot control
at the joint meeting of the North
American Farmers’ Direct
Marketing Conference and the
Ohio Fruit and Vegetable
Growers Congress, Feb. 10-12, in
Cincinnati.
Botrytis is a gray mold or
fungus that causes strawberries
to rot. Infection occurs in the
flowers, but the mold doesn’t
multiply until the fruits mature.
In wet years, Botrytis can
damage close to 100 percent of
an untreated crop, while during
dry years the damage is mini
mal, Kovach said. A fungal bio
control, Trichoderma
harzianum, controls the fungi. A
biocontrol uses a living organ
ism, instead of a synthetic chem
ical, to control a pest. For exam
ple, a beneficial insect would
feed on unwanted insects.
Current integrated pest man
agement recommendations call
for one to two biocontrol applica
tions at bloom, depending on the
strawberry variety, bloom length
and weather conditions.
But Kovach wanted to mini
mize the impact from spraying
one step further.
“We knew bees were able to
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transport disease-causing
microorganisms as well as dust
and pollen to flowers,” said
Kovach. “We wanted to see if the
bees could deliver a beneficial
microorganism for us.”
To accomplish this, Kovach
put the Trichodema powder at
the entrance of the hive. “In
essence, the bees go through the
equivalent of a foot bath as they
enter or exit the hive,” he said.
Results from three years of
field tests at the New York State
Agricultural Experiment
Station, where Kovach previous
ly worked, showed that honey
bees and bumble bees can suc
cessfully carry the Trichoderma
to the strawberry flower.
In fact, bee-delivered
Trichoderma provided the same
amount of control as the tradi
tionally applied fungicides. But
- as a bonus from the bee polli
nation - fruit weight increased.
Strawberries are primarily
pollinated by gravity or wind,
Kovach explained. The more
seeds developed per berry, the
larger the fruit is. The increased
pollination by the bees yielded
fruit that was 15 percent to 25
percent larger than the control.
Trichoderma is registered
with the Environmental
Protection Agency; however, the
bee delivery method is not yet
registered.
“We still have to complete
impact studies on the bees, their
honey and the surrounding
flora,” Kovach said. “But, I
expect this delivery method to
be registered by the year 2001.”
The potential benefits are
tremendous, Kovach said. There
is lower impact on the environ-
merit because of the delivery
method, farmers handle less
chemicals, there’s little drift,
and it’s cheaper and easier to do.
The bees do your spraying for
you.
The North American
Farmers’ Direct Marketing
Conference and the Ohio Fruit
and Vegetable Growers
Congress early registration
deadline is Jan. 10. The fee is
$B5 for members of the confer
ence’s sponsoring organizations
and $llO for non-members. Late
registration fees jump to $95
and $ll5, respectively. For more
information, contact the Ohio
Fruit and Vegetable Growers
Congress staff at (614) 249-
2424.
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Pa. Cattlemen’s Association
To Offer Scholarship
MIDDLETOWN (Dauphin
Co.) The Pennsylvania Cattle
men’s Association (PCA) has an
nounced that it will make a $l,OOO
scholarship available to a young
person planning a career related to
the cattle industry. Funding for
this scholarship is provided
through PC A’s participation in the
Ivomec: Generations Of Excel
lence™ program.
“Nothing is more important
than providing a sound education
for tomorrow’s producers,” ac
cording to Bill McCoy, president
of PCA. “Those planning to work
in the changing cattle industry into
the next century will need to be
proficient in animal and crop sci
ences. business economics and
communications. That’s why PCA
is providing a $l,OOO Ivomec
Scholarship to help a deserving
young cattleman or cattlewoman
prepare for the future."
The PCA Ivomec Scholarship
will be awarded based on the ap
plicant’s interest in the industry,
leadership, academic achievement
and organizational involvement
Interested youth who are members
of the Pennsylvania Junior Cattle
men’s Association or whose par
Witness the beginning
of the next era
ents are PCA members should re
quest application forms directly
from die PCA office. Completed
applications must be postmarked
on or before March 12.
“We ate pleased to team up
with Ivomec to offer this very spe
cial scholarship opportunity to a
young person in Pennsylvania,”
said McCoy. “There’s no question
that education, along with practi
cal experience, is the key to the fu
ture competitiveness of the U.S.
cattle industry. Offering this
scholarship is just one of the ways
in which PCA is helping prepare
and develop tomorrow’s leaders.”
Introduced in 1996, the Ivomec:
Generations Of Excellence pro
gram has provided mote than $1
million to help fund youth-focus
ed scholarship and leadership init
iatives at die same level through
organizations that support the cat
tle industry. Funding levels are
based on the state cattle pro
ducers’ purchases of Ivomec®
Brand products, which are manu
factured by program sponsor
MeriaL
For more information about die
PCA Ivomec Scholarship, contact
the PCA office at (717) 986-0333.