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.
You won't find anyone more passionate about building a better bee than bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, who holds dual appointments at the University of California, Davis and Washington State University.
If you're planning to join the ranks of backyard beekeepers in 2012, you should keep a few things in mind, says Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
Lots of youngsters received teddy bears as holiday gifts. But native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, received a teddy bear, too. Of sorts.
