Scary critters with mandibles and lovable insects with antennae gathered at the Halloween party at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davi, hosted by the Friends of the Bohart.

There was the bee family: the queen bee, the drone and the worker bee. That would be entomologist Leslie Saul-Gershenz and biologist Norman Gershenz, the husband-wife team behind SaveNature.Org, a non-profit Bay Area-based organization devoted to insects.

Leslie, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, is the associate director of research, Wild Energy Initiative, John Muir Institute of the Environment at UC Davis. The worker bee? That would be their service dog. The "worker" bee, however,spent most of her time sleeping beneath a table while the queen bee and drone mingled in the hive of activity around them.

Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey wore his ghillie suit. Bohart associate Emma Cluff came dressed as "The Mad Hatter." Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator, disguised herself as a monarch caterpillar.

One of the highlights was a parasitoid pinata crafted by doctoral student Charlotte Herbert Alberts and husband, insect enthusiast George Alberts. They drew inspiration from the party invitation of artist and entomology alumnus Nicole Tam.

Of her art, Tam said: "All good things come in groups of three like the heads of Kerberos. Also, I just really wanted to draw a three-headed wasp! The wasps I used for this art piece were from the genera Polistes, Synoeca, and Dolichovespula."

And the piñata? Charlotte and George interpreted their work as "a parasitoid of dragon eggs. Probably led to the extinction of dragons. We used paper mache, chicken wire for extra defense, wire for molding and lots of paint."

The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It is also the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. In addition, it maintains a live "petting zoo," featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks or stick insects, tarantulas; and a year-around gift shop stocked with T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.

Director of the museum is Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis. The staff includes Steve Heydon, senior museum scientist; Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator; and Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) section.

The museum is open to the public Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m., except on holidays. More information on the Bohart Museum is available on the website at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu or by contacting (530) 752-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.

You can travel to China, Thailand, Madagascar and Brazil to taste rare, international honeys.

Or you can do taste, discuss and analyze that honey during the Sensory Evaluation of Honey Course, hosted Nov. 7-9 by the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center in the Robert Mondavi Institute (RMI) on Old Davis Road, UC Davis campus.

The three-day certificate course covers "everything in the world of honey," says director Amina Harris. It takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day in the RMI Sensory Building. Yes, there's still time to register; a few openings remain.

"Attendees will taste, discuss and analyze approximately 40 varieties of honey from across the globe to hearing the latest in bee sting allergy research," according to the center's press release. "The focus is on tasting honey using both the well-known Italian method taught at the Registry of Experts in Bologna alongside our own UC Davis research tasting protocols and techniques."

Course instructors include:

• Orietta Gianjorio, professional taster of honey certified by the Italian Register of Experts (she also professionally tastes wine, olive oil, chocolate and other commodities)
• Suzanne Teuber, M.D., a UC Davis professor in the Department of Medicine, who focuses on allergies
• Amy Myrdal Miller, a national consulting nutritionist
• Joyce Schlachter, a quality control specialist at Crockett Honey with a direct interest in adulteration
• Mani Niall, a professional chef,, occasional beekeeper and author of “Covered in Honey" and
• Hildegarde Heymann, a world-renowned professor of sensory science, who will explain exactly how our sensory apparatus works.

The introductory course uses sensory evaluation tools and methods to educate participants in the nuances of varietal honey, Harris said. Students will learn about methods of evaluation, stands and quality in this certificate program. It's geared for anyone interested in learning how to critically taste and assess honey. Using standard sensory techniques, packers, chefs, beekeepers, writers, food manufacturers, honey aficionados will learn about the nuances of varietal honey.

Attendees will receive a UC Davis Honey Flavor Wheel and the Center's newly published Honey Journal, in addition to access to all presentations.

Another highlight: members of the UC Davis research team will share results from their honey analysis research. The  research includes work in the field of gas chromatography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), pollen and the development of a full sensory panel.

Like to register? The fee for the three-day certificate course is $799. For more information, access Sensory Evaluation of Honey or contact Amina Harris at aharris@ucdavis.edu.

A study of the first University of California campus (UC San Francisco) to ban the sale of soda on campus has shown that employees reduced their consumption by nearly 50 percent. UCSF staff who took part in the study also reduced their waist measurements and weight.

“This was not a ban on the consumption of sugared beverages,” emphasized co-lead author Laura Schmidt, PhD, MSW, MPH, UCSF professor in the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. “This was a ban on sales on sugary beverages in vending machines, break rooms and cafeterias...People could still bring them from home or buy them off campus.”

The study was published Oct. 28, 2019, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Internal Medicine.

California Assembly Member Richard Bloom (D–Santa Monica) noted the importance of workplace and governmental restrictions on soda sales while communities are prohibited from establishing local soda taxes for the next 12 years. In June 2018, the beverage industry strong-armed the California Legislature and Governor into enacting a “preemption” law that prohibits communities from passing local soda taxes. 

“Workplace restrictions enable communities to take charge of their own health as we build momentum to pass AB 138, my bill that establishes a statewide soda tax that will fund prevention efforts. The bill will reduce soda consumption and generate positive health outcomes in impacted communities, where most needed, just like the UCSF effort,” Bloom said.

Lorrene Ritchie, UC Cooperative Extension specialist and director of the UC Nutrition Policy Institute, which conducts nutrition research to strengthen public policy, commented: “I am so impressed with both UCSF's sales ban and this very well-done study. Sodas are such a huge contributor to our obesity crisis that it is heartening to recognize a solution that any employer can adopt to help people improve their lives.”

Speaking of the UCSF study, lead author Elissa Epel, PhD, UCSF professor of psychiatry and director of the UCSF Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center, said: “This shows us that simply ending sales of sugary drinks in the workplace can have a meaningful effect on improving health in less than one year. There is a well-known pathway from soda to disease. High sugar intake leads to abdominal fat and insulin resistance, which are known risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and even dementia. Recent studies have also linked sugar intake to early mortality.” 

Client's Request:  I'm a trapper in the Ag Department. We have been looking for plum bud gall mites in the county.  I recently came across this plum tree with a huge growth or gall, it's 8" long and 7" wide on the underside of a branch, the tree is around 15 years old.  Homeowner wants to know what it is and what should be done about it.  The tree is in Pittsburg.  Any ideas? 

 MGCC Help Desk Response:  Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with your question about a very large gall on this 15 year old plum tree in Pittsburg.

I believe this is a gall caused by the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens commonly referred to as crown gall mite or possibly Plum Bud Gall Mite (Acalitus phloeocoptes (Nalepa)). Crown gall, as its name implies, typically appears at the crown of a plant, where the trunk enters the soil but it also can infect the main trunk and side branches.  Plum trees are among a long list of plants commonly infected by crown gall including many popular home garden fruit trees (pluots, etc.). 

The surface of crown galls and wood underneath is the same color as healthy bark and wood. However, when cut with a knife, crown galls are softer than normal wood and lack the typical pattern of annual growth rings. Galls can be tiny and smooth on young plants but usually are rough and sometimes massive on older trees.  

Crown gall appears to have a relatively minor effect on most older plants which is the situation you found. Since this tree is 15 years old and the gall appears to encompass a major part of the main branch I would suggest leaving it be.  If the distal portion of the branch starts to decline then the branch can be removed back towards the trunk thereby removing the gall. 

Without further inspection of the gall here in our office, another possibility is the Plum Bud Gall Mite (Acalitus phloeocoptes (Nalepa)) which are well described in the Santa Clara County UCCE link below. 

Following is a link to a UC Integrated Pest Management website that explains crown gall  http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/DISEASES/crowngall.html 
and here is a Santa Clara County UCCE link to Plum Bud Gall Mite: 
http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/files/300211.pdf

We could give a more conclusive response if you would bring a sample to our offices during our office hours described at the bottom of this response.

I hope your homeowner will be relieved.  Good luck.

Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (EDC)

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Notes: Contra Costa MG's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at  http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Biog.