Bug Squad

A daily (M-F) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008 and about the wonderful world of insects and those who study them. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Mite on drone pupa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Smell Like a Bee

June 4, 2015
Newly published research by a Michigan State University-led team indicates that one of the reasons why the varroa mite is so destructive is because it infiltrates hives by smelling like a bee. The parasitic mite, or Varroa destructor, is a "blood sucker" that feeds on bees.
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Rei Scampavia with her first-place research poster, “Farming Practices Affect Nest Site Selection of Native Ground Nesting Bees." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Congratulations, Rei!

June 3, 2015
Let's hear it for Rei! Margaret Rei Scampavia, a doctoral candidate who studies with major professors Neal Williams and Edwin Lewis of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, won first place for her research poster at the recent UC Davis Bee Symposium, held in the Robert Mondavi Center for Wine...
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A female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on sneezeweed, genus Helenium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Does Sneezeweed Make You Sneeze?

June 2, 2015
Does sneezeweed make you sneeze? Over at the UC Davis Arboretum GATEway Garden. off First Street in downtown Davis, sneezeweed is blooming and bees and butterflies are all over it. We didn't see any of them "sneezing.
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Bee scientist Marla Spivak of the University of Minnesota keynoted the first-ever UC Davis Bee Symposium. (Photo by Dan Marshall)

The Bees Have It!

May 29, 2015
If you missed the first-ever UC Davis Bee Symposium on keeping bees healthy, not to worry The event, hosted May 9 in the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science by the Honey and Pollination Center and the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, drew some 360 people.
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