Their experiments demonstrate that an ultrapremium-quality cider can be made from ripe Bartlett pears. The cost of finishing the cider varies with the approach. Making a beer-like beverage was the least expensive. Bottling and packaging the value-added product also varied. Early season release of Willamette mites confers plant resistance.
Wine grapes serve as hosts for several species of mites.
Field trials in the Central Valley revealed that some mite management practices were far more successful than others. For instance, miticide and insecticide treatments led to resurgences of mite populations to damaging levels. Releases of predaceous mites provided inconsistent control of leaf-chewing mites. However, releases of Willamette mites at low densities early in the growing season consistently reduced high populations of Pacific mites throughout the season. Willamette mites can become pests, but are not damaging at low densities.