Bug Squad

Did you count pollinators on Thursday, May 8? That was "Be a Scientist Day," sponsored by the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources' Day of Science and Service to commemorate 100 years of Cooperative Extension.

There are bugs galore at the Dixon May Fair, which opened today (Thursday, May 8) and continues through Sunday, May 11. The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is showcasing insects in the Floriculture Building, where displays include a bee observation hive from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

This is a story about a third-grade classroom in Galt, Calif., that loves honey bees. It's also a story about a beekeeper named Brian Fishback of Wilton who eagerly taught them to love bees. Fishback, a former volunteer at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

Some folks call them "bugsy" or "mosquito hawks" or "skeeter eaters" "flying daddy longlegs." They may look like Texas-sized mosquitoes but they're not mosquitoes. Neither do they eat mosquitoes. They're crane flies in the order Diptera, family Tipulidae. And they're found worldwide.

Get ready! It's almost time to count the pollinators! The University of California's Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) wants you set aside three minutes on Thursday, May 8 and count the pollinators wherever you live--and they live--in California.