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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do.  The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University.  She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet. 

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Joe Tauzer in the apiary at Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Today Is Giving Day: How to Be a Part of 'The Hive'

December 2, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Today (Tuesday) is Giving Day.Let's give to the honey bees. Or, rather, let's "give BACK" to the bees. Honey bees pollinate about one-third of our food supply, including fruits, vegetables and nuts. They also provide us with honey, beeswax and other products.To us, giving to the bees means giving…
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Queen bee and workers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honoring the Memory of 'Honey Bee Guru' Eric Mussen

December 1, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 They are a special group of people--the people who receive the California State Beekeepers' Association's Eric Mussen Distinguished Service Award, launched in 2015.Eric Mussen (1944-2022), who served for 38 years as the UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the UC Davis Department of…
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Jeff Smith's micro moth project. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What a Micro Moth!

November 28, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis,  has just finished spreading the wings of a moth that has a 4mm wingspan."I've been concentrating for months on spreading our huge backlog of field pinned…
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Honey bee pollinating almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hap-bee Thanksgiving!

November 27, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 When you sit down at your Thanksgiving table today, thank the bees.“A substantial portion of the meal is pollinated by the honey bee,” the late Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen (1944-2022), a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty and a noted authority on honey bees, told us…
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Queen bee and her colony

Zeroing in on Honey Bee Research

November 26, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 How to keep honey bees healthy...UC Davis alumnus and Honey bee specialist Richard Martinez of the E. L. Niño lab will present his exit seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, on Wednesday, Dec. 3 in Room 122 of Briggs Hall.Martinez, who received his master's degree in…
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