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)
Primary Image
Bee breeder-geneticist Michael "Kim" Fondrk works the Page bees in a Dixon almond orchard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It All Began at UC Davis

January 7, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It all began at UC Davis. The highly acclaimed research published in Current Biology that cracked the 200-year secret of complementary sex determination in honey bees is rooted right here, right here at UC Davis. Arizona State University Provost Robert E. Page, Jr.
View Article
Primary Image
A solo almond blossom blooming Jan. 5, 2014 in Benicia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An Early Bloomer

January 6, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You've heard of late bloomers. How about early bloomers? A trip to the Benica (Calif.) State Recreational Park on Sunday yielded quite a surprise: a solo blossom on a bare almond tree. Almonds don't usually start blooming until around Valentine's Day. Almonds are big business in California.
View Article
Primary Image
Bee on honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Taste of Honey--and Mead....and That's Not All...

January 3, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's not just the taste of honey. It's the taste of honey AND mead--coupled with a gourmet dinner on the UC Davis campus. The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center is sponsoring the Mid-Winter Beekeepers Feast: A Taste of Mead and Honey on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
View Article
Primary Image
Brian Fishback shows his daughter, Emily, a bee observation hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why Keep Bees?

January 2, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Why become a beekeeper? Why keep bees? Beekeeper Brian Fishback of Wilton is quick to answer that. Bees, he says, teach us core family values. Bees have to take care of each other and work together for the success of the colony, just as people do for the success of their families.
View Article
Primary Image
Honey bee foraging on a pansy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Viva La Pansies!

January 1, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Pansies aren't bee plants. But don't tell that to the bees. True, bees are partial to the lavenders, the mints, the salvias, thyme, basil, borage, oregano, sunflowers and the like, but it's winter and their food sources are scarce.
View Article