Bug Squad

DAVISHe's back. Entomology folks at UC Davis remember when Louie Yang was a doctoral candidate, studying population biology with major professor Rick Karban.

There she was, snuggled beneath a garbage can lid, seeking warmth as temperatures dipped to freezing levels. She was lucky. It was City Garbage Pick-Up Day. She could have been trucked to the local landfill had we not rescued her. Luck be a lady and she was.

Chemical ecologists at the University of California, Davis, are changing their navel-orangeworm research direction after an elementary school students science project found that the major agricultural pest prefers pistachios over almonds and walnuts.

Twenty-nine days to go. If you love bees and know how to design a bee friendly garden, remember Jan. 30. Jan. 30 is the deadline to submit your design for the half-acre bee friendly garden at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis.

For my New Year's resolution, I resolve to turn over a new leaf. Oh, sure, most folks resolve to eat less, exercise more, drink less, read more, stress less, save more, gripe less, and volunteer more. Not me. I'm turning over a new leaf.