Bug Squad

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do. The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University. She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Up close and personal with a robber fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Looking Back at 2013

December 31, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Goodbye, 2013. Hello, 2014. If you're a beginning driver--or you remember being a beginning driver--your instructor may have admonished: "Look where you're going; not where you've been." But sometimes, especially at the end of a year, it's good to know where you've been.

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