- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis created the morphologically correct honey bee sculpture for the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis, she expected it to be a focal point.
And it is.
The bee, which she cleverly named "Miss Bee Haven," anchors the half-acre bee friendly garden and it's the first thing visitors see when they stop by the site, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, west of the central UC Davis campus.
"That's one big honey bee!" they say. Or, "that's one big worker bee!"
Sometimes you see young children circling it or climbing on it. Most of the time you see people whipping out a cell phone to take a photo.
Last Wednesday it was "Occupy the Bee." An insect occupied the bee's left antenna: a consperse stink bug (Euschistus conspersus).
Why was the stink bug there? After all, this little critter sucks plant juices.
Me thinks the agricultural pest was just warming itself on "Miss Bee Haven"--before heading out to misbehave.