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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

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. 

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The San Francisco Chronicle engages in rooftop beekeeping and maintains two colonies and a fruit and vegetable garden. Journalists Deb Wandell and Meredith May are the beekeepers. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology Nematology and Queen Turner, head of the beekeeping Section, Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana, inspected the hives last June. From left are Turner, Wandell and Mussen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sorry, This Rooftop Is Occupied

December 24, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Up on the rooftop Reindeer pause, Out jumps good ol' Santa Claus... With all the rooftop beekeeping underway throughout the world, Santa may have some serious issues to consider tonight.
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A golden bee (Italian).(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Revisiting 'The 13 Bugs of Christmas'

December 23, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
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.
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Olive attentively watches for Kris Kolb. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Her Name Was Olive

December 20, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
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.
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A newly emerged Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Wings of Freedom

December 19, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"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.
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Male leafcutter bee, Megachile fidelis, as identified by Robbin Thorp, on coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Where the Boys Are

December 18, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The boys won't be back in town for awhile. But they will show up. Girls, too.
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