Bug Squad

Medical entomologist Anthony Anton Cornel knows his mosquitoes--and a few snakes, too. When he was doing research in Brazil in September, he draped a snake around his neck and posed for the camera. His favorite research subjects, though, are mosquitoes.

You spray DEET on your arms, and those pesky mosquitoes leave you alone. It works. However, not everyone wants to use DEET, a synthetic insect repellent. There's that smell, for one thing.

If you missed the first fall plant sale at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive, you're in luck. The next public sale is Saturday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. We attended the sale on Saturday, Oct.

If you've ever watched a Gray Hairstreak butterfly (Strymon melinus) nectaring a sedum, and then watched a honey bee (Apis mellifera) land on the same flower, it's a study in sharing. "I was here first," says the Gray Hairstreak, sipping nectar. "I was here second," says the honey bee.

Follow that buzz! When the California State Beekeepers' Association, founded in 1889, meets Nov. 18-20 in Valencia for its 2014 convention, it will mark a milestone: 125 years of beekeeping. Not so coincidentally, the theme is "Celebrating 125 Years of California Beekeeping.