Holiday? What holiday?

It's Labor Day, but honey bees aren't relaxing. They're out in force collecting nectar, pollen, water and propolis.

Ever seen them weighted down with huge pollen loads?

They seem to have "Herculean strength," don't you think? That's what Norman "Norm" Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, writes in his book, Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees, considered the bible for hobby beekeepers.

"Ten pollen foraging trips a day is par for the typical pollen forager," Gary relates. "When pollen is abundant, a bee can gather a full load in as little as 10 minutes by visiting several dozen flowers...When all factors are favorable, bees from a strong colony can collect many thousands of loads a day. Incidentally, when.beekeepers describe their colonies as strong. they really mean populous--even though bees as individuals seem to have Herculean strength, flying with loads nearly as heavy as their body weight."

In an email, he wrote: "A worker honey bee weighs about 100 milligrams and are reported to be able to carry about 75 milligrams…approximately 75 percent of is body weight!" 

Gary, now 90, served as a member of the UC Davis faculty from 1962-1994. He has kept bees for 75 years, starting at age 15. 

As an aside, you may know him as not only a professor, scientist, musician, and author but one of the world's most incredible professional bee wranglers. He used to wear full-body bee suits and play the b-flat clarinet. (See Bug Squad blog of Nov. 30, 2016). He once trained bees to fly into his mouth to collect food from a small sponge saturated with his patented artificial nectar.  He holds the Guinness World record (109 bees inside his closed mouth for 10 seconds) for the stunt.

Norm Gary knows bees.  

There aren't that many nematologists who can say their career spans 64 years. 

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Howard Ferris can.

Internationally recognized for his “exceptional, wide-ranging and unparalleled contributions to nematology” over a 64-year career, Ferris is a newly elected Honorary Member of the Society of Nematologists (SON), the international organization's highest award.

Ferris received the well-deserved award at SON's 63rd annual conference, held in Park City, Utah.

“Dr. Ferris has devoted most of his adult life to the field of nematology,” according to the SON statement read at the awards ceremony. “Similar to the ecological concepts that are central to much of his work, his research record of over 200 peer-reviewed publications has created a web of connections that touch a huge number of nematologists across the world.”

The award, first given in 1968, is an honor achieved by only 2 percent of the membership. Ferris, who served on the UC Davis faculty for 36 years, is the 36th nematologist and the third UC Davis faculty member to receive the honor. SON awarded UC Davis professor Merlin Allen (1912-1974) the honor in 1970, and Dewey Raski (1917-2014) in 1988.

"Howard's contributions and dedication to the discipline of nematology are remarkable in their impact,” said UC Davis Distinguished Professor of Nematology Steve Nadler, former chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a member of the nominating team.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Entomology Frank Zalom of the Department of Entomology and Nematology and director of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) for 16 years, and a past president and Honorary Member of the Entomological Society of America, said Ferris is “perhaps the premier IPM research nematologist of our time.”

Ferris joined the then UC Davis Department of Nematology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology) as chair in 1985. He transitioned to emeritus in 2014. 

He developed and continues to maintain Nemaplex and Nemabase, “two of the most important online nematology resources available,” wrote the trio of nominators, Inga Zasada, USDA-ARS research plant pathologist, Oregon State University; Professor Larry Duncan, University of Florida; and Nadler. “It is unlikely that there is a nematologist in the world that hasn't used the online resources that Howard created.”

A curious student or an established nematologist who has forgotten something can find what they need in Nemaplex, which covers all things nematode including taxonomy, methodologies, biology, ecology, management,” the nominators wrote, adding that it is a “virtual encyclopedia of nematodes…There are also online tools for selecting cover crops and making economic threshold decisions.”

Nematology Defined. Ferris defines nematology as "Unsegmented roundworms; they inhabit freshwater, marine and soil environments, in fact almost any environment that provides sources of carbon and water. Many are free-living, feeding on microbes and on small animals and plants and so contributing to critical ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and regulation of communities," Ferris says. "Others are important parasites of plants and animals, including humans. Estimates, although difficult to substantiate, are that 80 percent (4 out of 5) multicellular animals on the planet are nematodes. That is numbers of individuals, not numbers of species.”

Ferris launched Nemaplex in 1987, and since his “retirement,” devotes at least three days each week to developing it and associated databases. The online resource covers the biology, ecology, and management of plant and soil nematodes.

Ferris began his career in nematology as a research scientist for the Tobacco Research Board of Zimbabwe, and then obtained his bachelor's degree in botany and zoology in 1964 from the University of London; his nematology diploma in 1965 from the State Agricultural University, Wageningen, Netherlands; his master's degree in zoology in 1968 from the University of London; and his doctorate in plant pathology in 1972 from North Carolina State University.

Academic Career. Ferris launched his academic career in 1972 as an acting assistant nematologist at UC Riverside, advanced to professor in 1983, and then accepted the vacant chair position at UC Davis in 1985. He chaired the UC Davis Department of Nematology for nine years. Over his career, he has mentored 20 postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists and 11 doctoral and master's students.

Born in England, Howard emigrated with his family to South Africa in 1946 and to Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in “about 1950.” His family moved to New Zealand six years later, then returned to Zimbabwe in 1958. He finished high school there in 1960.

His first peer-reviewed publication? In 1969. Since then, he's published 221 additional peer-reviewed papers,” his nominators wrote. “More than 30 of his publications have received over 100 citations."

Ferris was elected a Fellow of SON in 1995, served as an associate editor of the Journal of Nematology in the 1980s, and organized SON's 28th annual meeting at Davis in 1989, and SON's 38th annual meeting in Monterey in 1999. He was selected a UC Davis Distinguished Professor in 2012. His other honors include the 1984 Ciba-Geigy Recognition Award for Excellence, presented at the First International Congress of Nematology, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; and the 1983 Dimock Lecture at Cornell University.

He has keynoted symposia in the United States, Scotland, Australia, Brazil, The Netherlands and South Africa, and delivered invited lectures in Belgium, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, and Spain and Mexico, among others. In addition, he has presented international short courses on nematode identification and soil ecology twice in Costa Rica, and also in Nicaragua and Mexico.

“I am honored to have been associated with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists who have enriched my career and have gone on to be very successful and productive in their own careers as researchers, teachers and leaders in various fields of endeavor,” Ferris said.

What does he do in his leisure time?

“I've been a lifelong-- but very slow--runner which would now be better described as a shuffler,” he joked. In fact, he's run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa several times, and "a few 50 milers in California"--the California International Marathon 20 plus times; and the Western States 100.

He and his wife, Cynthia Hayes, a retired adjunct professor of criminal justice at Sacramento State University and a retired private investigator, reside in Shingle Springs.  His goals? “Stay happy and healthy, continue to enjoy UC Davis and to continue to develop Nemaplex!

UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology for 34 years until her retirement on Feb. 1, 2024, is among the 17 emeriti featured in a newly released video tribute to emeriti, an annual public service project by UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal.

The 17 featured represent about 20 percent of UC Davis faculty who retired in 2023-24.

Kimsey is a recognized authority on insect biodiversity, systematics and biogeography of parasitic wasps, urban entomology, civil forensic entomology, and arthropod-related industrial hygiene. A UC Davis entomology alumna, she received her undergraduate degree in 1975 and her doctorate in 1979. 

Kimsey joined the entomology faculty in 1989 and became the Bohart Museum director in 1990. Although officially retired, she continues her research and as executive director of the Bohart Museum Society. She writes and publishes the quarterly newsletter.

In the video, Leal notes that Kimsey "is an entomologist interested in the systematics of stinging wasps, insect biotic diversity, and urban entomology...she provided insect diagnostics for the public and corporations, non-profit organizations,  and governmental agencies."

"Her research focused primarily on cuckoo wasps, hornets, and tiphiid wasps, describing more than 30 new genera and 300 new species of wasps. Her fieldwork included biotic surveys of the insect fauna of various desert sand dune systems in California and tropical habitats in Central America and Southeast Asia."

Kimsey served as president of the International Society of Hymenopterists from 2002-2004, and as a member of the board of directors of the Natural Science Collections Alliance in 2000 and 2001. The Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA) singled her out for its highest honor, the C. W. Woodworth Award, in 2020. She received the PBESA Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity Award in 2014 and was a member of "The Bee Team" that won the PBESA Outstanding Team Award in 2013. The UC Davis Academic Senate honored her with its Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award in 2016 in recognition of her outstanding work. And in 2023, CA&ES selected her as the recipient of its Exceptional Faculty Award.  She was honored with a 21-insect net salute in April.

In addition to the faculty highlights, Leal included brief messages by Chancellor Gary May, Provost Mary Croughan, and Suad Joseph, the UC Davis Emeriti Association (UCDEA) president. UCDEA interviews and records emeriti who have made "significant contributions to the development of the university." See Video Records Project.

"I know our emeriti are feeling the energy at UC Davis as we prepare to greet our incoming class of students," said Chancellor May in the video transcript. "I want to extend a welcome to all our emeriti professors and encourage you to remain involved in our vibrant campus activity just as you've been such an important part of our success." 

Those featured on the video tribute, in order of appearance: 

• Stuart Meyers,  professor emeritus, Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine 
• Peter Mundy, emeritus distinguished professor, Department of Education, and the Department of Psychiatry, College of Letters and Science
• Vaidehi Ramanathan, professor emerita, Department of Linguistics, College of Letters and Science
• Scott Simon, distinguished professor emeritus, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
• Bruce German, distinguished professor emeritus, Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
• Lynn Kimsey, distinguished professor emerita, Department of Entomology and Nematology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
• Leonard Abbeduto, professor emeritus, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine
• Lynette Hart, professor emerita, Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine
• Frank Sharp, distinguished professor emeritus, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine
• Stephen Wheeler, professor emeritus, Urban Design and Sustainability, Department of Human Ecology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
• Esther Kim, professor emerita, Eye Center, School of Medicine
• Julia Menard-Warwick, professor emerita, Department of Linguistics, College of Letters and Science
• Mohamed Hafez, professor emeritus, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering
• Geoffrey Schladow, professor emeritus, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
• Gail Taylor, distinguished professor emerita, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
• Paul FitzGerald, distinguished professor emeritus, Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy and Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, School of Medicine
• Alan Balch, distinguished professor emeritus, Department of Chemistry, College of Letters and Science

Additionally, Leal spotlighted (1) an emeriti “caught on camera” (Geerat J. Vermeij) heading to work two years after his retirement ("to stress how many members of the Emeriti remain engaged in UC Davis affairs"), and (2) UC Davis faculty member (Alan Balch) who broke the record on the number of years of service to the University of California (56 years, which included 52 at UC Davis).

Leal creates an annual tribute to UC Davis emeriti as a public service to celebrate their accomplishments as they enter a new chapter in their lives. It is a zero-budget, one-person production.

Leal launched his first "Tribute to Our New Emeriti," featuring 24 professors from eight colleges and schools who transitioned to emeriti in 2021-2022. (See news story.) The 2022-23 tribute is here. (See news story)

Leal, a member of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology faculty since 2013, is a former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology. He is the first UC Davis faculty member to win all three of the Academic Senate's most coveted awards: in research, teaching, and public service.  Leal received the 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching; the 2022 Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award; and the 2024 Distinguished Faculty Research Award. 

"Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons.The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity." --Wikipedia.

Those attending the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent Moth Night learned all about silkworms, moths, cocoons and textiles at a display staffed by Michael "Mike" Pitcairn, a retired senior environmental scientist/supervisor with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Mulberry silk production originated in China at least 5000 years ago. Folklore indicates that the wife of a Chinese emperor watched a cocoon fall from a mulberry tree into her teacup. She reportedly watched the cocoon unravel, revealing a long delicate thread. She collected thousands of the threads and made a robe for the emperor.

Biology Professor Richard Peigler of University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, donated the items to the Bohart Museum in 2020,  said UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey, former director of the Bohart. "What's cool about it is," she said, "is that the silk pieces were made from silk produced by multiple silk moth species, not just the one we think of commercially."

The mulberry moth is the primary producer of silk. Tussah is the most well known of the wild silks. 

Peigler has worked extensively with wild silk moths, studying their phylogeny, taxonomy and biology. His donations comprise the Wild Silks collection at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida.

"Wild silk is not nearly as luxurious as domestic silk found in today's clothing industry," the McGuire Center website relates. "This is raw, rough, and textured silk which feels almost paper-like to the human touch. This silk is harvested from the cocoons of various silk moths that encounter little to no human interaction. The practice of producing silk – termed sericulture, stretches back 5 millennia, and astonishingly, is a craft performed to this very day."

The Bohart Museum displayed textiles from four silks: mulberry  (Bombyx mori), tussah (Antheraea pernyi), tassar (Antheraea paphia), and eri (Samia ricini).

They included a woman's chaddar (head covering and shawl) and tablecloths.

Eri Silk (Samia ricini). Displayed was a woman's chaddar of 100 percent eri silk (Samia ricini), handwoven in Assam, India, and of naturally colored yarn. The brocade was done in traditional Assamese motifs. Women in rural villages in Northeast India wear these traditional shawls in winter. Peigler bought the chaddar for $47 from a seller in India in 2019. 

Tussah Silk (Antheraea pernyi).  Displayed was an antique tablecloth of tussah silk, handwoven in China in the 1920s or 1930s. The tablecloth, hand-reeled and in the natural beige color,  is hand-embroidered with mulberry silk (Bombx mori). China has exported thousands of tablecloths and handkerchiefs made of tussah silk (called "pongee" or "Shantng silk") to the United States and the United Kingdom.  Peigler purchased this tablecloth in April 2019 from an internet seller in Mount Dora, Fla., for $35.

Also of interest was a sample of tussah silk fabric in a pattern called "Honeycomb," mimicking the hexagonal cells in a bee colony.  "The yarns were machine spun and the fabric was machine woven," said Peigler, who purchased the fabric from Oriental Silk Import Co. in Los Angeles for $32.95 per yard.  There are several species of tussah silk moths (family Saturniidae) in China, India, Japan, Africa and North America.

Mulberry Silk (Bombx mori). Displayed was a tablecloth created in the early 1900s in China.  "It was spun, woven and embroidered by hand," Peigler related. 

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It also includes a live petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop. Director of the museum is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The Bohart Museum is open to walk-in visitors on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4:30 p.m. through Aug. 27. It will be closed to the public Sept. 1-22.  

The next open house is set for 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28. The theme is "Museum ABC's: Arthropods, Bohart and Collecting." All open houses are free and family friendly. Parking is also free. For more information, contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or access the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.