Bug Squad

WAS-Up? The Western Apicultural Society's annual conference. Two bee specialists at the University of California, Davis, will be among the speakers when the Western Apicultural Society (WAS) meets Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in Salem, Ore.

Ever heard of a polyester bee? We encountered a plasterer or "polyester" bee on a recent trip to Bodega Bay.

Three little words can help us determine what to plant in a bee friendly garden: "attractive to bees." Escallonia, a fast-growing evergreen shrub often planted as a hedge or screen, is indeed attractive to bees. Bees work the blossoms like there's no tomorrow--and no colony collapse disorder.

Our Artemisia, a silvery-leafed shrub bordering our bee friendly garden, looks quite orange and black these days. It's not for lack of water or some exotic disease. It's the ladybug (aka lady beetle) population. If you look closely, you'll see eggs, larvae and pupae and the adults.

Talk about agility. When you watch a honey bee foraging, it's a lesson in aerial acrobatics. She glides to her target flower, touching down gracefully and accurately. As she gathers nectar, she's vertical, horizontal, upside down and right side up again.