Bug Blog
Great Field Guide to Bees
If you've studied bees, you know that there are approximately 20,000 described species of bees in the world. Most people are familiar with honey bees and bumble bees, but they don't know about...
This photo, appearing in the field guide, is of Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen being stung by a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This photo in the field guide shows a chunk of plum tree wood drilled by valley carpenter bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's a Bird, It's a Plane...
It's a bird, it's a plane... It's not Superman. It's a flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata). We spotted this dragonfly in our yard recently and crouched down for a low angle, framing it...
Flame skimmer ((Libellula saturata), outlined against the sky. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
They're Not Sheepish on the Lamb's Ear
The next time you're around a lamb's ear--no, not the animal, the plant (Stachys byzantina)--watch for buzzing bees. Especially the European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum). The females...
European wool carder bee nectaring on Lamb's Ear. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of European wool carder bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees are quite distinguishable from European wool carder bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'Life in the Hive': Bee-utiful Art
It’s all about the bees, the garden and the art. The UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program is installing mosaic ceramic panels on cement planters at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a...
Multiple hands at work on the mosaic ceramic panels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Artists Diane Ullman and Mark Rivera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This art depicts "before" and "after": "before" when the man was deathly afraid of bees, and "after," when he developed admiration. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The life cycle of the honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Artists Donna Billick, Diane Ullman and Mark Rivera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Bee and the Ant
Lavender. Honey bees love it. We watched a honey bee foraging on lavender blossoms last weekend, when an ant appeared on the scene. The ant? A worker of Liometopum...
A honey bee encounters a velvety tree ant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Velvety tree ant touches the antennae of a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)