This report covers conditions and observations made on Monday, February 15, 2016.

Taken in Madera county, the first photo in today’s report shows the developing bloom in the Nonpareil variety in Chowchilla, followed by a photo of the pink tip stage of the Butte variety in Madera. The third photo is a down-the-row shot of a Nonpareil and Fritz orchard in the Delano area of Kern County.

Warm, sunny weather burned through some early fog in the South San Joaquin Valley on Monday. Early morning lows in the mid 40s preceded daytime highs in the low 70s. Early fog yielded clear skies and calm winds and gave bees some excellent time to work. Seven to eight very good hours of bee activity were observed.

Nonpareil and California type pollinizers have about one quarter of their flowers presenting for pollination in the southern region. The early blooming Sonora is two days ahead with almost half of its flowers presenting for pollination. Monterey and Carmel are a day behind Nonpareil. The late blooming Butte and Padre are three to four days behind Nonpareil and have only occasional flowers presenting for pollination. All varieties within individual orchards are exhibiting excellent synchronization with each other giving bees an excellent opportunity to cross pollinate.

Spray rigs are running in full force as growers are trying to get their fungicide treatments on before the anticipated rain on Wednesday. Flail mowers continue to run through orchards to keep vegetation low to the ground and manageable.

By Brian Noeller