Bug Squad

It's time to revisit "The 13 Bugs of Christmas." You've heard "The 12 Days of Christmas," beginning with a single "partridge in a pear tree" and ending with "12 drummers drumming.

Her name was Olive. Every Friday morning she'd come bounding over to greet me, her tail wagging happily, one ear up, one ear down. I called her "My Second Favorite Dog" and nicknamed her "The Bee Garden Mascot.

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." That's the line that came to me Saturday when I released a week-old Gulf Fritillary butterfly I'd reared in our home. Kris Kristofferson penned that line in his hit song, "Me and Bobby McGee," popularized by Janis Joplin.

The boys won't be back in town for awhile. But they will show up. Girls, too.

If you've been itching for that long--awaited book about North America's bumble bees, the itch and the wait are over. You can now order the book, titled "Bumble Bees of North America: An identification Guide," on the Princeton University Press website.