Bug Squad

They're here. They're there. The Western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica) likes to hang around bee hives. If you're a beekeeper, you've probably seen them nesting in a rodent burrow or hollow log near your hives. At the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

Yellowjackets is a word you never want to end with a period, but with an exclamation point! They probably annoy you when they invite themselves to your barbecue to partake of your hamburger and other protein-rich foods. They're persistent predators.

President Obama just pardoned a couple of turkeys--Apple and Cider. They won't make it to the White House Thanksgiving dinner today. But what he could have done--when he was pardoning the turkeys--was to praise the honey bees.

Mark your calendar. If you're a bee aficionada and haven't ordered your educational North American Bee Calendar, you have until Tuesday, Nov. 30 to place your order. It's for a good cause.

It's the kind of rose garden that Joe South would write about. The Grammy-award winning songwriter-guitarist who wrote "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" (popularized by country singer Lynn Anderson), has probably never seen this rose garden, though.