Bug Squad

The very presence of a black widow spider, shiny black with a globe-shaped abdomen, strikes fear in most people. And not just on Halloween.

Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, emphasizes that if you're planting flowers to attract bees--and you should--be sure to remember them in the fall--not just the spring and summer. In the fall, food is scarce.

She didn't come home last night. The little honey bee at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis, wound up in a spider's stomach.

Many beekeepers keep bees, but Norman Gary wears them. Gary, who received his doctorate in entomology (apiculture) from Cornell University, served as a professor at the University of California, Davis for 32 years, retiring in 1994.

Some 1300 people, including beekeepers, entomologists, gardeners, nature lovers, and children--plus millions of bees in the vicinity--helped celebrate the grand opening of the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven last Saturday, Sept. 11. The haven, a bee friendly garden planted last fall next to the Harry H.