Bug Blog
Sorry, This Rooftop Is Occupied
Up on the rooftopReindeer pause,Out jumps good ol' Santa Claus... With all the rooftop beekeeping underway throughout the world, Santa may have some serious issues to consider tonight. The...
The San Francisco Chronicle engages in rooftop beekeeping and maintains two colonies and a fruit and vegetable garden. Journalists Deb Wandell and Meredith May are the beekeepers. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and Queen Turner, head of the beekeeping Section, Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana, inspected the hives last June. From left are Turner, Wandell and Mussen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
San Francisco Chronicle journalists/beekeepers Journalists Meredith May (left) and Deb Wandell inspect a frame of honey on the Chronicle's rooftop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Revisiting 'The 13 Bugs of Christmas'
It's time to revisit "The 13 Bugs of Christmas." You've heard "The 12 Days of Christmas," beginning with a single "partridge in a pear tree" and ending with "12 drummers drumming." In between: two...
A golden bee (Italian). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Her Name Was Olive
Her name was Olive. Every Friday morning she'd come bounding over to greet me, her tail wagging happily, one ear up, one ear down. I called her "My Second Favorite Dog" and nicknamed her "The Bee...
Olive attentively watches for Kris Kolb. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sarah Hodge pets Olive, while Kris Kolb gardens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Olive faithfully follows Kris Kolb as she hauls away clippings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Wings of Freedom
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." That's the line that came to me Saturday when I released a week-old Gulf Fritillary butterfly I'd reared in our home. Kris...
A newly emerged Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary returns to the site where it was released. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This Gulf Fritillary caterpillar survived the frost. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Where the Boys Are
The boys won't be back in town for awhile. But they will show up. Girls, too. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, and his UC Berkeley-affiliated...
Male leafcutter bee, Megachile fidelis, as identified by Robbin Thorp, on coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male longhorned bee, Melissodes communis, as identified by Robbin Thorp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)