{"id":1487,"date":"2024-08-28T18:46:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T18:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colegiobolivar.edu.co\/garden\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2025-04-06T19:47:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T19:47:07","slug":"learning-about-broca-hypothenemus-hampei-and-how-to-control-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colegiobolivar.edu.co\/garden\/2024\/08\/28\/learning-about-broca-hypothenemus-hampei-and-how-to-control-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning about Broca, Hypothenemus hampei, and how to control it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the heartbreaking discovery that we have been attacked by broca, Hypothenemus hampei, <\/em>\u00a0we decided to quantify the extent of the damage and use it as a great learning opportunity. Students were asked to collect coffee and take samples of 100 beans and count the number that were affected by Broca. A startlingly high percentage of broca was seen, 43%! Over 3809 coffee beans were counted with 1617 of them being affected by broca.<\/p>\n

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A larval form of broca as seen using a stereoscope in the laboratory<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This growth of broca is probably due to the following reasons: a lack of cleaning away leaf litter beneath coffee trees<\/strong> increasing a repository and habitat for the growth of broca; not using traps enough;<\/strong> reduced frequency of spraying coffee with our organic deterrents.<\/strong> That and with a particularly wet summer<\/strong> broca seems to have hit our plantation hard.<\/p>\n

Stereoscopes were set up in the lab and students were asked to observe the microscopic coffee boring beetles. Students saw all stages of the life cycle of the beetle, from egg to larvae to nymph and to adult.<\/p>\n

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