We've been waiting with bated breath for butterfly expert Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis, to announce he's found the first Pieris rapae of the year. Not so. Not yet.
When California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) bloom and honey bees battle over the blossoms, can spring be far behind? No, it's just California's pleasant weather.
As 2012 approaches, it's "out with the old and in with the new!" Not always. The huge feral honey bee colony that we photographed Jan. 9, 2011 in a Modesto ash tree at a Vacaville (Solano County), backyard, is still going strong.
It's like a spray of sunshine in the depths of winter. The Bulbine frutescens, native to the desert grasslands of South Africa, is blooming well in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.
