Bug Squad

It's Thanksgiving. Count your blessings--and thank the bees. If your table includes pumpkin, cranberries, carrots, cucumbers, onions, apples, oranges, cherries, blueberries, grapefruit, persimmons, pomegranates, pears, sunflower seeds, and almonds, thank the bees for their pollination services.

Oh, if we could just engage in some menu planning and preparation! How often have you thought of that after watching praying mantids dine on honey bees, bumble bees, monarchs, Western tiger swallowtails and other beneficial insects? "Please don't eat the pollinators!" I plead, tongue in cheek.

They learned about sawtoothed grain beetles, carpet beetles and other pantry pests. They learned about walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas and praying mantids--all residents of the live petting zoo.

So you want to become a beekeeper...or you want to advance your apiary skills? Or maybe there's "keeper" in the family and you want to give him or her a gift certificate that will fit nicely under the Christmas tree? You're in good hands! The E.L. Nio Bee Lab at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

If you like honey and want to learn more about it, the place to bee on Sunday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Dec. 10 is the seventh annual Z Specialty Food Open House. It's scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in its warehouse, 1250-A Harter Ave., Woodland.