- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Take stock of your flowers and pollinators; today is the first day of spring.
If Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima, is blooming in your garden now, you'll likely be seeing honey bees, syrphid flies and other pollinators.
M. maritima, native to Greece and Albania, is a member of the family Brassicaceae, which includes mustards, broccoli, cabbages and cauliflower. It's self-sown. In its native habitat, it grows well in maritime sandy habitats, thus the "maritima" in its name.
The four-petaled flowers, quite fragrant, can range in color from lavender, white and pink to violet and purple.
In our garden in Vacaville, Virginia stock blooms profusely from spring to late fall, and can thrive in the winter.
Cheers to the first day of spring!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you've lately visited the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, part of the 100-acre UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, you've seen them.
Honey bees nectaring on the Kniphofia "Christmas Cheer" poker plant.
Its stems, stretching 5 to 6 feet tall, are topped with brilliant spikes of reddish-orange tubular flowers. They are Santa Claus-red, honey yellow, and pumpkin orange, all wrapped in one.
The genus, Kniphofia, honors Johann Hieronymus Kniphof (1704 -1763), a German physician and botanist. Botanist Conrad Moench (1745–1805) bestowed the name.
Everywhere the plant goes, it spreads cheer.
Honey bees, buzzing out of their their hives when the temperature outside hits 55 degrees, spread their own kind of cheer, bringing back life-nourishing nectar to their sisters and queen bee in the dead of winter.
Cheers.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's bee-ginning to look a lot like Christmas...
All hail our littlest agricultural worker.
European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to what is now the United States in 1622. Specifically, the bees arrived at the Jamestown colony (Virginia). Native Americans nicknamed the honey bee "the white man's fly."
California would have to wait until 1853 for honey bees to arrive. That's when Texas beekeeper Christopher Shelton, brought his colonies to the San Jose area. A plaque outside the international terminal of the San Jose airport documents their arrival.
The plaque, "First Honeybees in California," reads:
"Here, on the 1939-acre Rancho Potrero de Santa Clara, Christopher A. Shelton in early March 1853 introduced the honey bee to California. In Aspinwall, Panama, Shelton purchased 12 bee hives from a New Yorker and transported them by rail, “bongo,” pack mule and steamship to San Francisco. Only enough bees survived to fill one hive, but these quickly propagated, laying the foundation for California's modern beekeeping industry. California registered Landmark No. 945 plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in Cooperation with E. Clampus Vitus, Mountain Charlie Chapter No. 1850, and in honor of San Jose City Historian Clyde Arbuckle, March 6, 1982."
According to atlasobscura.com, "In 1853, Texan Christopher A. Shelton purchased 12 hives of bees from an unknown beekeeper in what is now Colon, Panama. The bees, already transported to Panama from New York, were then sent up to San Francisco and Alviso, the nearest port to San Jose, by steamer. They then continued their journey via train and mule to the 1939-acre Rancho Potrero de Santa Clara where Shelton settled."
"Only enough bees to form one hive survived," the Atlas Obscura post related. "These German black bees (Apis mellifera mellifera) endured the tedious trek and were propagated throughout California and soon the whole of the West Coast. Shelton was not so fortunate and died alongside other prominent South Bay Residents of the time on the infamous Jenny Lind steamship explosion just a month after the receipt of his bees. His three hives—it didn't take long for his original stock to multiply—were sold at auction for $110 each, 22 times the price of a beehive on the East Coast."
Ever seen the inside of a hive? That's where the magic begins. You'll see "The Girls": the queen, nurse maids, nannies, royal attendants, builders, architects, dancers, honey tenders, pollen packers, propolis or "glue" specialists, air conditioning and heating technicians, guards, and undertakers.
And in spring, summer and early fall, you'll see "The Boys," the drones. They have one responsibility: reproduction. The drone mates in mid-air with a virgin queen, and then he dies--"and with a smile on his face," according to the UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (1944-2022).
As we celebrate Merry Christmas and the New Year, the bees could use some cele-bee-tion, too.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Bug Squad.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
Just a partridge in a pear tree, 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, 4 calling birds, 5 gold rings, 6 geese-a-laying, 7 swans-a-swimming, 8 maids a'milking, 9 ladies dancing, 10 lords-a-leaping, and 11 pipers piping.
Where, oh, where, are all the insects?
So we replaced "five gold rings" with "five golden bees." Other insects crawled, hopped, leaped and fluttered into the song. We sang the piece during our 2010 UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology holiday party. The lyrics went viral when U.S. News picked it up:
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a psyllid in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 2 tortoises beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 6 lice a'laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a'laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 8 ants a'milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a'laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 9 mayflies dancing, 8 ants a'milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a'laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 10 locusts leaping, 9 mayflies dancing, 8 ants a'milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a'laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 11 queen bees piping, 10 locusts leaping, 9 mayflies dancing, 8 ants a'milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a'laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 12 deathwatch beetles drumming, 11 queen bees piping, 10 locusts leaping, 9 mayflies dancing, 8 ants a'milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a'laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree
"On the 13th day of Christmas, Californians woke to see: 13 Kaphra beetles, ?12 Diaprepes weevils, ?11 citrus psyllids, ?10 Tropilaelaps clareae, ?9 melon fruit flies, 8 Aedes aegypti, 7 ash tree borers, 6 six spotted-wing Drosophila, 5 ?five gypsy moths, 4 Japanese beetles, 3 imported fire ants, 2 brown apple moths, and a medfly in a pear tree."
Today the song is still making the rounds, but with some different pests--pests that challenge entomologists in the California Department of Food and Agriculture:
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a psyllid in a pear tree.
One the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two peach fruit flies
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, three false codling moths
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, four peach fruit flies
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, five gypsy moths
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six white striped fruit flies
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, seven imported fire ants
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eight longhorn beetles
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, nine melon fruit flies
On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, ten brown apple moths
On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eleven citrus psyllids
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, twelve guava fruit flies.
On the 13th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, thirteen Japanese beetles
And, then, of course, there's that dratted pest, the Varroa destructor (varroa mite) from Asia, which arrived in the United States in 1987. Known as the No. 1 enemy of beekeepers, this external parasitic mite feeds on fat body tissue, and can transmit debilitating viruses. This is not what you want for Christmas--or any other time.
'Tis the season to celebrate the holidays...and to check your Yule tree branches for a praying mantis egg case (ootheca).
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A resident of Medina, Ohio, Kim died Sunday, Dec. 10 at his home of lung cancer at age 76. He served as editor of Bee Culture for 33 years, retiring in 2019. He authored numerous books and podcasts, including "5000 Years of Beekeeping in 24 Minutes (100)" with Jim Tew on Honey Bee Obscura.
We remember his talk at the 2021 California Honey Festival.
"If you want to be a beekeeper, you must think like a bee, not like a beekeeper," he related.
As a descendant of generations of beekeepers, I asked Kim why folks should keep bees. They "provide essential pollination, improve the genetics of the wild bee population in the area, ensure native plant populations," he said, "and because there is absolutely nothing more calming, soothing, enjoyable than being a part of that civilization, right in your backyard."
We remember when Kim addressed the 2017 Western Apicultural Society's 40th annual conference, held at UC Davis, where it was founded. He predicted that the nation's 250,000 beekeepers (who manage around 4 million colonies) will turn into a million beekeepers in five years.
Kim applauded "the incredible rise of new beekeepers in the last 10 years."
"The urban, suburban and country beekeepers are younger than the norm and we have more women beekeepers than ever," Kim told the crowd. "This isn't like the 1970s Green Movement--I'm old enough to remember that. It's got legs! But watch out for an ugly urban disaster like a major bee spill or bad honey recall."
"If I'm in beekeeping, pollination services is a sure bet," he said. "Beekeepers now get 200 bucks a colony for almond pollination in California. Pollination is more profitable than honey. Bee breeding? Queens can sell for as much as $40 or $50."
"In the United States, we eat on the average 1.2 pounds a year, but in Canada, it's 2.5 or 2.4 pounds." He lamented that unsafe and/or questionable honey from China floods our nation's supermarkets and is being sold at undercut prices. (Some statistics indicate that a "third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals"--Food Safety News.)
It's important for American beekeepers to label their honey "Made in America" or localize it by city or state, Kim said.
He also touched on such issues as honey bee health, nutrition, loss of habitat, poor quality forage, and pesticides.
The varroa mite/virus is the No. 1 problem for beekeepers, he said. "Other stressers include nutrition, nosema, pesticides...All of these can be fixed with money, increased diversity of bee stock, and a move away from both ag and in-hive legal and illegal chemicals."
Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen (1944-2022), serving his sixth term as president of WAS in 2017, commented at the time: "Kim Flottum has been a stalwart in U.S. beekeeping for decades. He ferrets out information on national, regional, and local beekeeping happenings and disseminates the news in various places, depending upon his role at the time. He has been associated with the A.I. Root Company; Gleanings in Bee Culture, and now editor of Bee Culture magazine. He is very active in the Eastern Apicultural Society and is well known by nearly every University and USDA scientist in the country. Kim consolidates all that information into some really interesting presentations in which he is not known for concealing his opinions."
Kim Flottum received his bachelor's degree in horticulture production from the University of Wisconsin and then worked as a researcher at the USDA Honey Bee Research Lab in Madison, where he specialized in crop pollination, pesticide problems with honey bees, and "honey plants" for the home landscape.
His career took him to Connecticut. He was elected president of Connecticut Beekeepers' Association. He served as publications manager and editor of Gleanings In Bee Culture, A. I. Root's monthly beekeeping magazine. He created a new magazine, BEEKeeping, Your First Three Years. He also served as president of the Ohio State Beekeepers' Association. He continued to keep bees in his backyard in Medina up until his death.
The son of the late Arnold and Edna Flottum of Turtle Lake, Wisc., Kim is survived by his wife, Kathy, of Medina; a daughter, Jessica of Akron; two stepsons, Matt and Grant Summers, both of Medina; and two brothers and two sisters, all from Wisconsin: Julie (Flottum) Hugg of Ashland; Bob Flottum of Chippewa Falls; Susan Flottum Zurcher of Wales; and Tom Flottum of Turtle Lake. A celebration of life is planned next spring. (See obituary)
A post on his Facebook page said simply: "RIP, Kim Flottum, you will be missed by all beekeepers."
And the bees.
His passion for bees, his wisdom about all things bees, his generosity, and his kindness, will never be forgotten.