Bug Squad

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do. The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University. She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

GIGANTIC ARTICHOKE PLANTS fill one of the planters at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee Connected: Save the Date

April 20, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Bee connected; save the date. The grand opening of the half-acre Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11. The honey bees already know it's there.

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QUEEN BUMBLE BEE, a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) heads down the tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What a Show!

April 19, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Everybody loves a bumble bee. Especially the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. And especially a queen.

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A YOUNG ITALIAN honey bee nectaring lavender on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If You Cotton to Honey...

April 16, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you cotton to honey, you'll want to head over to Briggs Hall tomorrow (Saturday, April 17) during the 96th annual UC Davis Picnic Day. You can sample cotton honey, as well as five other flavors, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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Stings Happen

April 15, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When some folks think of a honey bee, they immediately think of stings. Not pollination, not honey, not colony collapse disorder, but stings. To beekeepers, stings are a minor irritation, or perhaps not an irritation at all. It's just something that happens in an occupation.

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Distinguished Service, Distinguished Awards

April 14, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Excellent work! We're glad to see that three noted entomologists at the University of California, Davis, received distinguished awards in their fields at the 94th annual meeting of the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA) on April 13 in Boise, Idaho.

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