Buckeye Lady Beetle Blitz Community Science Program Training 2025
The Buckeye Lady Beetle Blitz is a Community Science Program that tracks the abundance and species richness of lady beetles across the state of Ohio. Unfortunately, many species of lady beetles have declined dramatically in recent decades, and we are monitoring the abundances of remaining populations.
We first conducted our survey from 2009-2015 and would like to resample lady beetle populations 10 years later to see how they have changed.
Our program seeks volunteers who have a home garden (either a flower or food garden) that would be willing to collect lady beetles using a yellow sticky card trap in this garden over two weeks this summer (one week in June and August).
Workshop participants will learn about the results of our initial survey and be provided with the tools and training needed to contribute to the 2025 survey.
Wayne County is one of several host sites for this training. The Wayne County training will be held on Thursday June 12th at 11 A.M. at the Secrest Arboretum Welcome and Education Center, 2122 Williams Road, Wooster, OH 44691.
Orchard and Vineyard Sprayer Technology Workshop
Ohio State University Extension invites you to attend the Sprayer Technologies and Best Practices in Orchards in Vineyards workshop, which will provide you with the opportunity to learn best spraying practices using conventional sprayers as well as the new technology available to growers to make the pesticide application more precise and cost-effective. For example, you will see an “intelligent sprayer” with AI application (developed here in Ohio several years ago) that detects the existence of targets to be sprayed and varies the application rate on the go depending on the canopy characteristics (size, canopy leaf density). Another new technology gaining popularity is using drones to spray pesticides. These new technologies, as well as several types of conventional orchard/vineyard sprayers will be demonstrated in the afternoon part of the workshop. There will be plenty of time to talk with the presenters of talks, as well as with the vendors who will bring their sprayers to the site for demonstrations.
Detailed information about this workshop, including location, agenda, and registration, is as follows:
DATE: August 12, 2025
TIME: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Quarry Hill Winery & Orchard, 8403 Mason Rd #2, Berlin Heights, OH 44814
REGISTRATION COST (includes lunch and refreshments): Early Registration: $45 per person until July 1; Late Registration: $60 per person, July 2 until August 1
REGISTER at https://go.osu.edu/spray2025
The morning part of the workshop will be indoors with limited seating capacity. The registration will be closed once the seating capacity is reached. So, please consider registering early.
This event is a collaboration between Ohio State University Extension, Michigan State University Extension, Pennsylvania State University Extension, and the USDA-ARS Application Technology Research Unit.
Frank Becker is the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator with Ohio State University Extension – Wayne County, and a Certified Crop Adviser, and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or becker.587@osu.edu
This article was previously published in The Daily Record.