Bug Squad

Ol' Blue Eyes. What a treat to see. No, not an old movie starring Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra (1915-1998), but the blue-eyed darner, the Rhionaeschna multicolor blue-eyed darner, Aeshna multicolor.

How often do you see a honey bee "standing upright" to reach nectar? "Well, I guess I could just buzz up there and grab some nectar! But why not stay right here where I am and just s-t-r-e-t-c-h like a giraffe to get it?

Have you checked to see what's foraging on your early spring blooms? Our cherry laurels (Prunus laurocerasus) are blooming and the Andrena (mining) bees are zooming.

A honey bee, dusted with blue pollen, forages on a bird's eye, Gilia tricolor. We tower above her for a bird's eye view. It is April 19, 2010 in a field near the central UC Davis campus.

Some folks worry about "getting the red out." How about "getting the red in?" Have you ever seen a honey bee packing white, pink, blue, lavender, yellow, orange or red pollen? Have you ever seen the colorful diversity of pollen grains gracing their hives? Stunning. Take red.