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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A female Valley carpenter bee buzzes in the almond blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Carpenter Bees Like Almond Blossoms, Too

February 27, 2014
We're accustomed to seeing honey bees pollinating the almonds. But carpenter bees do, too. We spotted a female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, foraging in an almond tree on Feb. 24 in a field adjacent to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.
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Ants by Alexander Wild.

A Book You Can't Refuse

February 25, 2014
If you want to learn more about ants, especially those in New York City, then here's a newly published book you can't refuse. And it's not only a book you can't refuse, but you can reuse over and over again. It's that fascinating. "Dr.
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Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen getting stung on the wrist. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Can a Bee Unscrew the Sting?

February 24, 2014
When a honey bee stings you, she makes the supreme sacrifice and dies. She's usually defending her colony. In the process, she leaves behind part of her abdomen. A beekeeper simply scrapes the sting with a fingernail or a hive tool to stop the pulsating venom and continues working.
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Honey bees foraging on the Pride of Madeira at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

Best of Bodega: Bees Buzzing on Echium

February 21, 2014
The Pride of Maderia (Echium candicans) is blooming in the tiny Sonoma coastal community of Bodega. The purplish-blue spiked flowers attract honey bees, bumble bees and syrphid flies. And visitors. And photographers. The honey bees were buzzing all over the Echium last Sunday, Feb.
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