DAVIS--The Bohart Museum of Entomology will celebrate honey bees, native bees in California, and bees found worldwide at two concurrent open houses set from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15. The theme is “Flower Lovers: The Bees.”
One open house will be at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, formerly California Avenue (off La Rue Road) and the other at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, off Hutchison Drive/Hopkins Road, west of the central campus.
The Bohart Museum, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is arranging both events and “we’re hoping people will travel from one to the other and participate in both,” said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum’s education and outreach coordinator.
Tables at the Bohart Museum will feature craft activities and a display of bees from all over the world. Among those participating will be Yang; senior museum scientist Steve Heydon; and graduate student Matan Shelomi. The museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses more than seven million insect specimens, and is also home to a live “petting zoo,” including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and rose-haired tarantula.
At the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven the agenda will include a recognition ceremony for Derek Tully, 17, of Davis at 1:30 p.m. As his Eagle Scout project, he planned, organized and supervised the building of the haven fence, saving the Department of Entomology at least $24,000, according to Kimsey. He began the project April 2 and completed it Sept. 7.
The haven open house will include a display table on native bees, staffed by Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology and graduate student Katharina Ullmann; honey bees, headed by staff research associate Billy Synk; and a crafts table, staffed by the UC Davis Entomology Club. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, a noted honey bee expert, will field questions.
Christine Casey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology will guide a tour of the haven from 2 to 2:30 p.m.
The Bohart Museum of Entomology, founded in 1946 and named for noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart, is dedicated to teaching, research and service. It is open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It is closed to the public on Fridays. Admission is free. Weekend open houses are scheduled once a month.
More information is available on the Bohart Museum website at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/or by contacting Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-0493.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894