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In the Pink

Thunder boomed across the garden.The carpenter bee (Xylocopata tabaniformis orpifex) meant business.She headed straight for the slowly opening rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora). Never mind...

Carpenter Bee

CARPENTER BEE nectars a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Pollen-Covered Carpenter Bee

POLLEN-COVERED carpenter bee takes ownership of a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 5:32 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

'Mint' Condition

Honey bees love catmint as much as cats love catnip. Fact is, catmint and catnip belong to the same family: the mint family or Lamiaceae. The family also includes such aromatic celebrities as...

Honey Bee

HONEY BEE, with tongue extended, heads for catmint (Nepeta faassenii). This will be among the plants in the half-acre Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, to be open to the public Oct. 16 on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nectaring

WITH POLLEN crowning her head, a honey bee nectars catmint. It's a bee favorite and a people favorite.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 at 5:10 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Beleaguered Bee, Crazy Ant

It's a crazy world out there. Now our beleaguered honey bee has a new foe: the Rasberry crazy ant, Paratrechina sp. nr. pubens. The Rasberry crazy ant is driving Texans crazy. A UC Davis...

Safe and Secure

THIS HONEY BEE, sipping water from a leaf, is safe and secure--but not if hordes of Rasberry crazy ants find her. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Death by Crazy Ants

THIS PHOTO, posted on Tom Rasberry's blog at http://crazyrasberryants.blogspot.com/, shows Rasberry crazy ants killing honey bees.

Hive Invasion

RASBERRY CRAZY ANTS invading a bee hive and killing ants. (Photo from Tom Rasberry's blog at http://crazyrasberryants.blogspot.com/.)

Posted on Friday, August 7, 2009 at 6:08 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

The Sting

Beekeepers consider stings just a part of their job. However, say the word "bee" and John Q. and Jane Q. Public may not think about the pollination of fruits, vegetables and nuts. Or the end...

Stinger
Stinger

CLOSE-UP of a bee sting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Site of the Sting

THIS WHITE BUMP is the site of a bee sting, about 20 hours old. Beekeepers generally consider stings just a part of the job. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 6:36 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Nature's Lace

A spider web is nature's lace, a symmetrical work of wonder. Well, a sticky, deadly trap if you're an insect. Then you become just another tasty morsel for the predacious, albeit artistic,...

Web Weaver

ORB WEAVER at work. The end product is nature's lace and an engineering feat, and, if she's lucky, a feast tonight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Intricate lace

SPIDER ART is a combination of delicacy and strength. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 6:06 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

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