Bug Blog
Bugfest at Dixon May Fair
If you think that every insect on a flower is a honey bee, you should see what the UC Davis Department of Entomology is showcasing at the Dixon May Fair, May 9-12. You'll not only see honey bees in...
Beekeeper Brian Fishback shows his daughter, Emily, his bee observation hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Day in the Life of a Single Worker Bee
A day in the life of a single worker bee... A honey bee tumbles off the flowering catmint (Nepeta) and struggles to right herself. Her wings tattered, her body battered, she does not buzz...
Honey bee tumbles off a flowering catmint and lands on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tattered wings of a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee thrusts out her proboscis (tongue). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sparkle and Shine!
It's not "Rise and Shine!" any more. It's "Sparkle and Shine." "Sparkle and Shine," a yellow rose related to the Julia Child Rose, drew quite a bit of attention at the UC Davis event, "Roses: the...
Honey bee foraging on a yellow rose, "Sparkle and Shine!" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A sign tells it all. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dave Fujino, executive director of the California Center for Urban Horticulture with Missy Gable, newly selected statewide director of the UC Master Gardener Program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Robbing Nectar
We all take short cuts--short cuts around the campus, to the beach, to a favorite restaurant... Honey bees take short cuts, too. We've often watched assorted bumble bees and carpenter bees drill a...
Carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, robbing nectar from salvia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee gathering nectar from a carpenter bee's pierced hole in the long tube of a salvia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Another honey bee reaping the benefits of nectar robbing by a carpenter bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hovering in the Wind
The 40 mile-per-hour howling wind didn't seem to bother the syrphid fly, aka hover fly and flower fly. It clung to a blossom on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, and proceeded to...
Syrphid fly nectaring on tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Syrphid sparkles in the early morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)