- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
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 card the fuzz from the soft, silvery-gray leaves for their nests. Both the males and females sip nectar from the blossoms.
The males are quite territorial and bodyslam honey bees and other foraging insects. They're trying to save the sweet nectar for the females and mate with them.
It was windy this morning in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. It didn't seem to bother the patrolling European wool carder bees. But their presence--and the body slams--bothered the honey bees.
The haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, is open from dawn to dusk. There is no admission.
I am a Master Gardener in Sonoma County and a client wondered what insect,which to her originally looked like a yellow jacket, was attacking her honey bees in her garden. She sent in a picture of the bee on Lambs Ears - and through research I found -
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/European_wool_carder_bee.html
as well as the link within to Bug Squad.
Thank you for the work you do - I am sharing your blog with the MG Sonoma Gardeners - I constantly learn so much from it! P.S. The photos are awesome!
Kathleen