Bug Squad

"A" is for almonds and "Z" is for Zamora. Mark your calendar for Tuesday, March 15 for a two-hour workshop, "Almond Pollination and Orchard Pollinator Planters" in Zamora, Yolo County. It's free and open to the public.

If you're a California commercial citrus grower or a homeowner with a citrus tree on your property, be sure to check for signs of the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). Think ACP. Think HLB. Think ASAP.

So you want to become a Master Beekeeper. You don't want to just keep bees, you want to devote your life to learning more about them and understanding them. And you want to engage in public service.

Nathaniel Haddon of the Vaca Valley 4-H Club, Vacaville, is only nine years old, but he already knows more about honey bees than many adults do. He readily names the three castes: queen bee, worker bee and drone.

We lost our Pollinator Partner today. Xena the Warrior Princess, a 16-year-old tuxedo cat that we rescued from the pound, crossed the Rainbow Bridge today in a local veterinarian's office. We had her 16 years, or if cats have staff, we were her staff for 16 years.