Bug Squad

Are top-bar beekeeping hives for you? What are their advantages and disadvantages as compared to the traditional Langstroth hives?

A fly, oh, my! On the approval scale, they don't rank nearly as high as honey bees, but some are often mistaken for them. Take the Eristalis stipator, which belongs to the family Syrphidae, the hover flies. It's about the same size as a honey bee and it's a pollinator.

Varroa mites--considered the No. 1 enemy of beekeepers--will be among the topics discussed when Gene Brandi of Los Banos, Calif., president of the American Beekeeping Federation, speaks at the 40th annual conference of the Western Apicultural Society, to be held Sept.

Monarch butterflies aren't the only insects that hang around milkweed, their host plant. You're likely to see a variety of predators, such as the European paper wasp, Polistes dominula.

Honey bees intrigue, delight and fascinate Norman Gary. In fact, they have for 70 years. Seven decades. Yes, that's how long he's kept bees.