Bug Squad

Beekeepers circled biologist Randy Oliver, commercial beekeeper, scientist, writer and educator, as he held court in the apiary of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California,Davis.

You're watching honey bees foraging in a field. They buzz toward a blossom, sip nectar, and then head for another blossom. Typical, right? But there's much more going on than you think. It's not just the nectar that she's scented.

You gotta love those praying mantids! An orchid mantis and a ghost mantis fascinated visitors at the recent open house hosted by the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

To pin a butterfly specimen... Visitors at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Sunday, Sept. 24 learned how to pin and spread butterflies and moths from entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the museum's Lepidoptera collection. The three-hour open house, held from 1 to 4 p.m.

It's not every beekeeper who can say they've owned--and used--a smoker for 70 years. "Bee Man" Norman Gary can. And he displayed it at the Western Apicultural Society's 40th annual conference, held recently at UC Davis.