Bug Squad

"A bog is a wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant materialoften mosses, and in a majority of cases, sphagnum moss."--Wikipedia. Not so with the Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG) on the University of California, Davis, campus.

The Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, fluttered into our pollinator garden and headed straight for the Verbena. Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, identified the gender: "it's a girl.

Take the creative and collaborative minds of students studying design and entomology at the University of California, Davis. Add an innovative project involving insects.

So here's this Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) clinging to a lavender stem in our pollinator garden. It is all alone--for a little white. Then here come honey bees seeking to forage on the lavender, too. One bee buzzes next to the butterfly's wing. Then it soars up and over.

We remember photographing a young beekeeper, Mikayla Hagan of the Rio Vista (Calif.) 4-H Club, when she delivered presentations at Solano County 4-H events. Yes, 4-H'ers can enroll in beekeeping projects--if a club offers them. And they should! Rewind to the 2012 Solano County Project Skills Day.