Beekeepers, it’s time to grab your smoker and hive tool — the Young Harris Beekeeping Institute will celebrate its 30th year May 18 to 21. The four-day event, held in-person at Young Harris College, is an immersion experience for anyone interested in bees and beekeeping, regardless of experience level. Registration is open through May 16.

Inheriting a virus may sound like an undesirable bequest, but for certain insects, the phenomenon of beneficial virus inheritance is key to their survival. In the case of certain parasitoid wasps, viruses not only help these beneficial insects survive, they eliminate many agricultural pests in the process.

Urban landscapes have become a focus in pollinator conservation. Practices in urban plant selection and landscape maintenance play a critical role in pollinator populations and the preservation of essential ecosystem services.

The winner of the University of Georgia’s 2022 FABricate Entrepreneurial Initiative competition is a novel automated system designed to help pasture-raised egg producers increase their efficiency. Conceptualized by a team led by poultry science undergraduate student Chris Ayers and biological engineering student Jeffery Whitmire, Chiktopia is an automated chicken tractor designed to move pasture-raised chickens easily and efficiently while preserving the land and saving labor costs.

Jena Johnson, a lab manager in the Department of Entomology in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, captures what she observes working with mosquitoes and other insects in the lab of entomology professor Michael Strand. She finds scientific and artistic meaning in her photos, which offer a glimpse at both intriguing behavioral phenomena and unexpected natural beauty.

With the onset of warmer, longer days, an array of pink blooms from peach, cherry and plum trees break forth — the first signs of spring. And while most of us enjoy this seasonal shift, fruit tree growers prepare their orchards for the relentless, annual migration of insect pests.