Bug Squad

You don't have to crane your neck to see the crane flies. They're everywhere. They're zigzagging around your yard, bumping into walls and windows, landing on your screen door and fence, and clustering on your porch lights, all the while searching for mates. They're in your garden, home and garage.

Head on over to the haven on Friday, May 6. That would be the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. The occasion: It's National Public Gardens Day, as declared by the American Public Gardens Association, and UC Davis is participating. The haven, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

Forget the polls that claim to know who will win the U.S. Presidency. Let's hear it from the insects, namely the woolly bear caterpillars that populate the cliffs of Bodega Bay. They may know.

Forget about the birds and the bees. Just think about the bees. The 141st annual Dixon May Fair, California's oldest fair, is "Buzzing with Excitement," and that's the theme of the fair, which opens Thursday, May 5 for a four-day run.

When the monarchs return to southern California and central Mexico to overwinter, the residents rejoice. When the bumble bees emerge from their nests in the spring, we, too, rejoice. They are like the swallows of Capistrano and the monarchs of Pacific Grove.