Bug Blog
So You Want to Learn About Native Bees...
So you want to learn about native bees... Be sure to attend Robbin Thorp's presentation on "Buzzed for Bees" on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 19 at the Rush Ranch Nature Center, Suisun. Thorp, a...
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male sweat bee, Halictus tripartitus, as identified by Robbin Thorp. It is leaving a California golden poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why He Studies Ants
Michael Branstetter, who will present a UC Davis Department of Entomology seminar on Wednesday, Jan. 16, is passionate about ants. "Ants are the most successful group of social insects on the...
Michael Branstetter at Reserva Nacional Kahka Creek, Nicaragua. He is in the process of doing a transect of mini Winkler samples. (Photo by Laura Sáenz)
Michael Branstetter with a Winkler hanging structure, which was constructed in the forest by his guide using only a machete. (Photo by Laura Sáenz)
An Awesome Bloomer
At first glance, we thought "Strawberry blossoms!" Not strawberries, though. The white-floral ground cover at the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park is Sutera cordata or bacopa, as identified...
Honey bee foraging in bacopa on grounds of the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollen-covered Benicia bee on bacopa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why This Honey Bee Research Is So Important
They're on to something. Definitely. An international research team has been researching honey bee pollination of almonds in the three-county area of Yolo, Colusa and Stanislaus since 2008, and...
UC Berkeley conservation biologist Claire Kremen (right) confers with colleague Alexandria-Marie Klein, then a postdoctoral fellow in her lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey).
Honey bee visiting an almond blossom in Arbuckle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Almond orchard in Capay Valley, Yolo County. (Photo by Claire Brittain)
First Almond Blossom of 2013
Talk about an early bloomer! At least one almond tree was blooming in California on the first day of the year. In the Benicia State Recreation Area, to be exact. We spotted the almond tree...
Almond tree blooming on Jan. 1, 2013 in Benicia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Almond blossom poking through the Benicia State Recreation Area fence. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This bud's for you. Almond bud about to unfold. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)