A Day in the Life…Microscope at Work

Samples ready to be investigated
Samples ready to be investigated

My job is to answer questions and teach research based facts to professionals in the green industry (landscapers, horticulturists, nursery and greenhouse growers) and in commercial vegetable, small fruit and tree fruit production. I also handle questions from residents and home gardeners when the Bucks County Horticulture Hotline is on a well-deserved winter hiatus.

The variety of questions is amazing and the way in which they come in is nearly equally varied. I get questions via email and phone, some folks walk into our office looking for answers while others tape their questions to the door or slip it right underneath early in the morning or later in the evening.

Recently, someone dropped off samples of a tiny brown moth and its larva they found in their garage. Of course they wanted to know what the insect was, and more importantly, perhaps, how to get rid of it.

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