Bug Squad

So you're seated at the Thanksgiving dinner table listening to what people are thankful for, what they treasure the most. The three "F's" win hands-down: family, friends and food. But "insects" should definitely added to that list.

Emily Bick does UC Davis proud, not to mention the field of entomology.

If you're having pumpkin pie or butternut squash this Thanksgiving, thank the squash bee. Squash bees are specialists (not generalists) that pollinate only the cucurbits or squash family, Cucurbitaceae, which includes pumpkins, squash, gourds, cucumbers and zucchini.

Ever seen a bumble bee nest? We remember when insect enthusiast Rita LeRoy of the Loma Vista Farm, part of the Vallejo City Unified School District, found the nest of the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenkii, in May of 2015.

If you missed enrolling in the Wax Working, Honey and Hive Products, a first-of-its-kind class offered Saturday, Dec. 7 by the Elina Nio lab at the University of California, Davis, you're in luck--but not until spring. The Dec. 7th class is sold out.