Bug Squad

In the big, beautiful butterfly world, the Fiery Skipper stands out as the most common urban butterfly in California. It may not be as showy as the Monarch, the Gulf Fritilliary and the Painted Lady, but the Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) holds its own.

Yes, it's back. The Gulf Frit is definitely back.

The folks who devote their entire lives to honey bees--how do they begin?

The times, they change. Standard textbook knowledge, that can change, too. It did today.

The mighty Monarch butterfly and the industrious honey bee. How rare we see them together on the same flower. But that was the case last Friday at the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden planted next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.