Bug Squad

Carpenter bees, which to the uninitiated look like bumble bees, are nice to have around the garden. Maybe not so nice to have around your untreated patio or fences (as they drill holls in them to make their nests) but just think of them as pollinators, not pests.

If Franklin's bumble bee were a human, you might think it part of the Federal Witness Protection Program. That's because it's rarely seen. Its narrow distribution range covers parts of southern Oregon (Jackson, Douglas and Josephine counties) and northern California (Siskiyou and Trinity counties).

It's not red but it definitely rocks. It rocks because it's drought-tolerant and it rocks when honey bees and bumble bees visit it. And it's pretty. The Penstemon x Mexicali "Red Rocks" is a white-throated cherry-pink flower.

A world without mosquitoes? An article in the July 21st edition of Nature asked that very question. Author Janet Fang, an intern in Nature's Washington, D.C., office, wrote that "Malaria infects some 247 million people worldwide each year, and kills nearly one million.

Are you ready to celebrate something really important in your life? Without this "something," your table fare would be sparse. What? Honey bees. And now, there's an official day to celebrate them. The second annual National Honey Bee Awareness Day is set Saturday, Aug. 21.