Bug Squad

Like to learn how to make mead? You know, transform honey into honey wine? The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute and the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology are offering a beginners' introduction to mead making on Friday and Saturday, Nov.

I've always rather liked katydids. Anyone who is called "Kate" or "Katy" in their childhood usually winds up with "Katydid" as a nickname. And they repeatedly hear "Katy did. Katy didn't" (the sound the insect makes).

Whenever folks post photos of praying mantids, their readers expect to see prey. You know, the hapless bee or butterfly that made the fatal mistake of getting too close to those spiked forelegs. This praying mantis (below) appeared to have been a hapless victim of another predator.

Who knew? UC Riverside entomologist Peter Graystock and colleagues Dave Goulson and William O. H.

They look like shiny blue and black needles. Make that "flying" shiny blue and black needles. We spotted this damselfly foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) this week in our family bee garden. The blue was breathtaking.