Bug Squad

Hear that buzz? Are you ready for National Honey Bee Day? It's held the third Saturday of August and that's tomorrow. Launched in 2009 by a small group of beekeepers petitioning the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture (USDA), the day basically "honors" honey bees and beekeeping.

Our showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is putting on a show. The towering plant--a good eight feet--anchors the garden as we patiently wait for monarch butterflies to arrive and lay their eggs.

Congrats to biological chemist and green pesticide developer Thomas Tom Sparks, winner of the Entomological Association of America's 2021 Nan-Yao Su Award for Innovation and Creativity in Entomology. ESA announced the award today.

"I'm very grateful to Walter (Leal) for inviting me to light the inaugural torch for this international celebration of research on insect chemical senses with over 1400 registered participants which is absolutely unprecedented for our field.

Cheryl Veretto was the first to step forward. She and 51 other beekeepers had gathered that day in September 2016 at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis to undergo testing to become California Master Beekeepers at the apprentice level.