Bug Squad

Just before you open your carton of premier ice cream, you may want to enjoy the sound of violins and cellos. There's an app for that. More specifically, there's a concerto for that. And it all deals with the Hagen-Dazs premier ice cream brand supporting bee research at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

So there you are, a little sweat bee, foraging in the buckwheat. You sip some nectar, and suddenly, a flash of yellow. A wolf is at your door.

Breaking news shook the agricultural world today. The Mediterranean fruit fly, considered the world's worst agricultural pest, is one of at least five fruit flies established in California. It cannot be eradicated.

So you're sitting there watching the Gulf Fritillary caterpillars chowing down on the passionflower vines. It's sort of like watching the grass grow, or the paint dry, but there's much more drama.

Kathy Kellison is on a mission: to encourage winegrape growers to plant Bee-Helpful Cover Crops. This would include mustards, clover and buckwheat, plants that honey bees love. Kellison, the executive director of the Santa Rosa-based Partners for Sustainable Pollination, will speak Thursday, Aug.