UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- With hundreds of research plots spread over 1,500 acres, the Russell G. Larson Agricultural Research Center can be overwhelming in size and variety. But for visitors to Penn State's Ag Progress Days, Aug. 17-19, guided bus tours once again cut the sprawling facility down to manageable size.

"Research tours are a big part of Ag Progress Days," says Robert Oberheim, manager of the annual exposition. "They help us offer something for everyone. For a minimal time investment, these tours can give you a sense of the wide range of research being conducted at the Larson Center."

The half-hour General Research Tour takes visitors by bus through Penn State's Horticulture, Entomology, Plant Pathology and Crop and Soil Sciences research farms, as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Laboratory research farm. The tour highlights current research on cultural practices, new crop varieties, pest and disease management and other topics aimed at better understanding and improving crop production while minimizing inputs. Tours run hourly from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, with extended hours until 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

New this year is "Beekeeping Basics," a one-hour tour being offered each day at 11 a.m. Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate and science education specialist in Penn State's entomology department, explains that the tour will give non-beekeepers an opportunity to experience honey bees up close.

"They'll learn about honey bee biology and management, about the importance of honey bee pollination to state and national agriculture, and about challenges like parasites and diseases and the research Penn State is doing to address mite and disease issues. Honey bees are fascinating creatures and if you're not a beekeeper, you don't often get the opportunity to see inside a bee hive."

Tour guides will discuss bears and beekeeping and present a newly designed fence that keeps bears out of hives. Tours will break up into smaller groups and each group will put on protective equipment, open a bee hive and experience how a honey bee colony is organized.

The Potato Research Tour (Tuesday at 1 p.m.) will be a two-hour introduction to promising potato varieties and the latest disease-control research. And the High Tunnel Tour (at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily) will reprise its showcase of the low-cost, low-tech, high-quality, high-yield plastic technology that uses small metal frames covered with clear plastic sheeting to manipulate soil and air temperatures, extending vegetable and flower growing seasons.

Penn State's Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Pa. Rt. 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 17; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 18; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 19. Admission and parking are free. For more information, call 800-PSU-1010 through Aug. 19, or visit the Ag Progress Days Web site at http://apd.cas.psu.edu. EDITORS: Contact Roxanne Lease at 814-865-4801 or by e-mail at rjl10@psu.edu.

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Writer/Editor: Gary Abdullah Office814-863-2708 FAX 814-863-9877