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)
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Beekeeper Brian Fishback shows his daughter, Emily, his bee observation hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bugfest at Dixon May Fair

May 8, 2013
If you think that every insect on a flower is a honey bee, you should see what the UC Davis Department of Entomology is showcasing at the Dixon May Fair, May 9-12.
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Honey bee tumbles off a flowering catmint and lands on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Day in the Life of a Single Worker Bee

May 7, 2013
A day in the life of a single worker bee... A honey bee tumbles off the flowering catmint (Nepeta) and struggles to right herself. Her wings tattered, her body battered, she does not buzz away.
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Carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, robbing nectar from salvia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Robbing Nectar

May 3, 2013
We all take short cuts--short cuts around the campus, to the beach, to a favorite restaurant... Honey bees take short cuts, too. We've often watched assorted bumble bees and carpenter bees drill a hole in a long-tubed flower to rob the nectar.
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