- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That would be the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. The occasion: It's National Public Gardens Day, as declared by the American Public Gardens Association, and UC Davis is participating.
The haven, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, west of the central UC Davis campus, will celebrate with an open house that night from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The garden tour begins r at 6. Free sunflower plants will be given while they last. Parking is free.
The activities:
- Learn how to catch and observe bees up close, and see honey bees at work in an observation beehive.
- Hear from experts on such subjects as bee diversity and identification, and how to create a garden to help bees.
- Listen to children's book readings about bees and gardens
The half-acre Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven was installed in the fall of 2009 under the leadership of then interim Entomology Department chair Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology. Fast forward to today. Christine Casey serves as the staff director of the haven, and Extension apiculturist Elina Niño is the faculty director.
There is much to see at the haven. A six-foot-long worker bee sculpture anchors the garden. It is the work of self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick, who specializes in mosaic ceramic art. Billick and UC Davis entomology professor Diane Ullman co-founded and co-directed the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, which spearheaded the student/community art in the garden. See history of the garden.
And National Public Gardens Day? What is it? The sponsor, the American Public Gardens Association, "serves public gardens and advances them as leaders, advocates, and innovators." As told on the website: "
"A public garden is an institution that maintains collections of plants for the purposes of public education and enjoyment, in addition to research, conservation, and higher learning. It must be open to the public and the garden's resources and accommodations must be made to all visitors."
The Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven is open from dawn to dusk. Admission is free. Check out the website for group tours and educational information, including what's planted in the garden and helpful hints about what you can plant in yours.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You're likely to see many species of bees at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis.
The half-acre bee garden, operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and primarily funded by the premier ice cream brand, was planted in the fall of 2009. It's located west of the central campus, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.
The garden contains scores of bee friendly plants, visited by honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, sweat bees, European wool carder bees and other pollinators.
Two of the bees you'll see Saturday are the Valley carpenter bees. The male and females are clear examples of sexual dimorphism. The male, often called "a teddy bear bee," is blond with green eyes, while the female is a solid black.
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, collected a couple of the male Valley carpenter bees today for the spring open house. If you're apprehensive about touching them, don't bee. "Boy bees don't sting," he says.
A six-foot-long sculpture of a worker bee, "Miss Bee Haven," the work of Donna Billick of Davis, anchors the haven. Throughout the garden, you'll see the ceramic mosaic work of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, co-founded and co-directed by Diane Ullman, professor of entomology at UC Davis, and Billick, a self-described "rock artist."
The garden took shape under then interim department chair Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. Scores of professionals and volunteers made it all possible. (See History of the Haven.)
Today it is managed by entomologists Christine Casey, staff program representative, and Extension apiculturist Elina Niño, faculty director of the haven.
The open house will include a tour of the garden at noon. Other activities:
- Learn to catch and observe bees up close
- See honey bees at work in an observation beehive
- Learn about bee diversity and identification
- Learn about what and how to plant for bees
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Friday noon!
At Friday noon, July 17, ant specialist Phil Ward, professor of entomology, will present a program on the species of ants found in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. This will be a special brown bag session in the haven, located on Bee Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.
Among the native ants at the haven are
- Dorymyrmex insanus (workers small, ~3 mm long, black; conspicuous crater-shaped nests in bare soil)
- Dorymyrmex bicolor (workers small, ~3 mm long, bicolored, dull orange and black; conspicuous crater-shaped nests in bare soil)
- Prenolepis imparis (also known as the “winter ant” or “winter honey ant”; workers small (3-4 mm long), brown, with shiny gaster; inconspicuous nests in soil)
- Formica moki (sometimes called “field ants”; workers medium-sized (6 mm long), with a dark head, orange-brown mesosoma (thorax) and silvery-gray gaster; nest in soil)
Images of these species can be found on the AntWeb (www.antweb.org).
At least six other species of native ants reside in the vicinity of the garden, including Formica aerata, Pogonomyrmex subdentatus, and Solenopsis xyloni. The introduced Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) occurs around the Bee Biology building, but it appears not to have colonized the bee garden.
Attendees will learn how to observe and identify California native ants, and learn about the differences between bees and ants in this free event. For more information see the flier and access the haven web site. The haven is owned and operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. It was planted in the fall of 2009. Christine Casey is the staff director and Extension apiculturist Elina Niño is the faculty director.
Then on Saturday night, July 18, the Bohart Museum of Entomology's first-ever evening open house will take place from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Bohart is located at 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane. Free and open to the public, Moth Night will include outdoor collecting; viewing of the Bohart Museum's vast collection of worldwide moth specimens; demonstrations on how to spread the wings of a moth; and information on how to differentiate a moth from a butterfly. Free hot chocolate will be served.
The event is in keeping with National Moth Week, July 18-26, an annual event coordinated by Friends of the East Brunswick (New Jersey) Environmental Commission. This year, National Moth Week will spotlight the Sphingidae family of moths found throughout the world commonly called hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms. Citizen scientists will be out in force to record and photograph what they see that week.
Tabatha Yang, public education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart, said that after the sun sets, a black light demonstration will be held. Visitors will collect moths from a white sheet, much as residents do around their porch lights.
Entomologist Jeff Smith of Rocklin, an associate and 27-year volunteer at the Bohart Museum, will show visitors how to spread the wings of moths. Smith curates the 400,000-specimen Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum. Smith organizes and identifies the butterflies and moths, creates the drawers that display them, and the labels that identify them. In between, he shares his passion for insects and spiders at outreach programs. Since 1988, Smith has spread the wings of 200,000 butterflies and moths, or about 7000 a year.
Naturalist Greg Kareofelas of Davis, a longtime associate at the Bohart Museum, will assist with the open house and the outdoor collecting. The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, is a world-renowned insect museum that houses a global collection of nearly 8 million specimens.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Just call it going for the roses.
Or a hot spot.
In between the showers and the sunshine, the bees at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis, emerge from their hives to forage.
They buzz over to the nearby Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre garden with year-around blooms.
One bee on a rose.
Two bees on a rose.
Three bees on a rose.
Four bees on a rose.
It's not often you see four honey bees sharing the same blossom.
In his poem, "Ode to the West Wind," English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) asked: "...if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"
Yes, especially on a December day that looks and feels like spring.
The garden, a year-around food resource for bees that also functions as a demonstration garden, is open from dawn to dusk for free, self-guided tours. Come spring, plans call for guided tours in a project headed by Christine "Chris" Casey (cacasey@ucdavis.edu) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. There will be a small fee for guided tours.
Bring your camera!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Good news!
Entomologist Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and a member of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences faculty, has just received one of three Pest Management Alliance Grants awarded by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to reduce the use of pesticides over a three-year period.
This is good news for the environment, people and pollinators.
“These older compounds are of high regulatory concern because of their toxicity and detection in surface water,” Parrella said.
Bedding and container color plants are part of the environmental horticulture industry “that provides flowering plants for urban landscapes and for indoor and outdoor containers as decorations,” he said. “These plants are produced and purchased year-round for their aesthetics.”
“In California, production of these plants is rapid: an eight- to 10-week crop cycle is typical,” Parrella said. “Most growers make their profits from quick turnover of a large number of plants, which results in low tolerance for pest damage and a perception that generally slower biological control options are not appropriate. If not appropriately diagnosed and treated, many pests have the potential to remain with the plants when sold. One to three pesticide applications weekly during the entire crop cycle are not unusual.”
“What makes this project different is that the emphasis will be on teaching the growers how to pick the tools that will work best for them, rather than implanting a set IPM program,” said Casey, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis.
“Every bedding plant producer has a unique mix of plant species and production methods that make standardization impossible,” she said.
The project will include a collaborative, interdisciplinary team of experts to develop IPM strategies to manage pests with less-toxic pesticides and fewer applications. An IPM guide for bedding plants, a pocket guide for pest identification and a Web site will be developed to share the information. Parrella and Casey will be launching a Web site within several months.
