The most common dragonfly in our little family bee garden is the red flameskimmer, Libellula saturata.

Last Sunday, however, a new species arrived--a male twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella), as identified by naturalist Greg Kareofelas of Davis, an associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis.

And a male, on Father's Day.

"The black spots on the wing tips, makes this a male Libellula pulchella," Kareofelas said.

The twelve-spotted skimmer flew in around noon, grabbed a few insects in flight (fast food!) and then perched on one of our bamboo stakes to eat them.  Warily, he watched me approach.  Fortunately, my 200mm macro lens allowed me to take a few shots before he took off.

This colorful little fellow is from the family, Libellulidae (skimmers); suborder Anisoptera (dragonflies); and order Odonata. By the way, if you're interested in buying the Bohart Museum poster, "Dragonflies of California," you can contact the museum at (530) 752-0493, or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or visit the facility, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane.  The museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis professor of entomology, is home of nearly eight million insect specimens. It is open to the public Mondays through Thursdays. The dragonfly poster is the work of then doctoral candidate Fran Keller (she now is "Dr. Fran") and Kareofelas.

According to BugguideGuide.net, Libellula pulchella "is found from British Columbia east to Nova Scotia, extending south through most of the U.S., from California east to Florida. It is absent from very dry areas. In Idaho, it occurs throughout most of the state except for the driest portions of the southwest."

Its habitat? Near lakes, ponds and marshes, particularly those with exposed shorelines.

Dragonflies like our yard due to the insects that fly over the fish pond and the insects that inhabit the pollinator garden, which offers quite a smorgasbord for predators.  What does an adult dragonfly eat? Soft-bodied flying insects such as mosquitoes, flies, bees, butterflies, moths, mayflies, and the like. They are also very territorial and will chase away other dragonflies.

During the visit by the twelve-spotted dragonfly, two other dragonflies--red flameskimmers--appeared at the lunch counter.

It was a very good day for dragonflies.

Probably not so good for the sunflower bees and sweat bees...

It's National Pollinator Week and there's exciting news on the horizon.

Staff research associate Billy Synk of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis, has been named director of Pollination Programs for Project Apis m. (aka Project Apis mellifera or PAm),

PAm executive director Christi Heintz posted today:

"The last month has been a banner month for PAm.  First, we are very fortunate to have Billy Synk joining our staff as Director of Pollination Programs.  He's been UC Davis' staff research associate and beekeeper.  Billy will be a great asset to PAm.  He knows bees, the beekeeping industry, apiculture research, and has the skills to expand not only our habitat projects but also our research program.  Secondly, the Federal Strategy to improve honey bee health was released.  PAm was part of the process since the initial meeting in Washington D.C. and was mentioned twice in the final document.  PAm is poised to take full advantage of the multi-agency focus on honey bees and will work hard to pursue opportunities that can help bees and beekeepers as a result of this effort.  Lastly, six new studies on Varroa control  were approved for funding.  We are very excited to get this research underway and prevent that anniversary party for Varroa when September, 2017 rolls around and the pest has been in the country 30 years. We committed to several innovative studies that also held a good chance for success.  This week is Pollinator Week, but every day is Honey Bee Day at Project Apis m.!"

As the director of Pollination Programs, Synk will be based in Sacramento and manage PAm's "Seeds for Bees" project and work with Pheasants Forever on the Honey Bee and Monarch Butterfly Partnership, Heintz said.

Said Synk: "I've always been really passionate about bees, and I care about this industry, I'm enthusiastic and energized by the opportunity to work with PAm while developing and implementing programs that benefit honey bees and beekeepers."

PAm's mission "is to fund and direct research to enhance the health and vitality of honey bee colonies while improving crop production." It is headquartered in Paso Robles.  Heinz works out of southern Arizona.  "We are geographically mobile, just like beekeepers!" Heintz quipped.

Synk holds a bachelor's degree in environmental policy and management from Ohio State University, where he was trained by noted bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, who later worked at UC Davis before joining her fellow bee scientists at Washington State University. Synk appeared on the cover of the American Bee Journal in February 2014.

At UC Davis, Synk worked on research projects with bee scientists Brian Johnson and Neal Williams. He played a role in the behind-the-scenes publication of National Geographic's Quest for a Superbee. For about a year, Synk worked closely with Bay Area-based photographer Anand Varma on a time-lapsed photography project of the development of a honey bee: from an egg to an adult. You can see this incredible video on YouTube.

And, be sure to listen to Varma's TED talk on bees. 

It's good to see all the focus on National Pollinator Week, as typified by UC Davis graduate student/native bee ecologist Margaret "Rei" Scampavia (at right) focusing on a male Valley carpenter bee.

This is Xylocopa varipuncta, also known as "the teddy bear bee."

It's a green-eyed blond and as fuzzy as any teddy bear you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting.  Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, calls them "teddy bear bees" and the name has stuck. (And being "boy bees," they cannot sting. See close-up photo on Bug Squad.)

Scampavia, who is studying how farming practices affect bee nesting for her doctorate in entomology, recently won the top graduate student poster award at the first-ever UC Davis Bee Symposium, and provided the popular “Pollinator Pavilion” at the UC Davis Picnic Day. 

She urges us to all pitch in and protect the pollinators. Good advice.

“Even if you only have a small balcony or patio, you can still provide food, nest, and pesticide-free resources for pollinators, including the 4,000 species of bees found in North America,” she says.

Scampavia, who studies with major professors Neal Williams and Ed Lewis of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and anticipates receiving her Ph.D. in 2016, lists three ways to “save the pollinators."

1. Provide food: Plant a variety of trees, shrubs and annual flower with blooms that differ in size, shape, color and flowering time. Planting native milkweeds also can help support monarch butterfly populations. Hummingbird and butterfly feeders can also provide additional food sources, but make sure to clean and disinfect your feeders regularly, as they can accumulate toxic fungi.

2. Provide homes: Bees can be limited by food or nesting opportunities. Native bees are usually not aggressive and unlikely to sting. A patch of bare soil can provide valuable nest sites for soil-nesting bees, particularly if the soil is loose and slightly damp. A dead stump or log, or shrubs with hollow stems, such as raspberry or elderberry, can also provide nests for cavity-nesting bees. “You can also make or order a ‘bee condo,' or a block of wood with holes of varying diameter,” she says. “Line these holes with paper tubes to make them easy to clean between years. Some bee species line their nests with rose, wisteria or fuzzy plants such as lamb's ear leaves, so growing these plants can help these bees, too.”

3. Provide pesticide shelters. As much as possible, try to reduce pesticide use in your garden, or use less toxic pesticides, such as soap sand oils. If you spray, do so when pollinators are not active--after dusk to before dawn. Try to avoid spraying flowers directly. Create a pesticide-free source of water and mud for bees and butterflies, such as a dripping faucet or a bird.

Scampavia launched the first-ever Pollinator Pavilion at the UC Davis Picnic Day. It proved to be one of the most popular attractions not only in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology display at Briggs Hall but at the entire UC Davis Picnic Day celebration. She displayed live monarchs donated by Utterback Farms in Woodland; butterfly feeders and bee condos donated by ARBICO Organics, based in Arizona; a live bumble bee colony from UC Davis research; and specimens from the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis.

Her display showcased numerous live pollinators, including bees, butterflies and flies. She also drew in the crowds with informational posters on pollinators. The posters detailed how individuals can help support healthy pollinator populations.

Visitors could walk inside the zipped enclosure and be one-on-one with the pollinators, including the monarchs, blue orchard bees, and syprhid flies. Many took photos of the monarchs on their hands or arms. Younger visitors were encouraged to practice observing pollinators by filling out a data sheet counting the number of each type of pollinator they saw.

Scampavia recently won the top prize at the Bee Symposium with her poster, “Farming Practices Affect Nest Site Selection of Native Ground Nesting Bees.”

"Rei is mutli-talented: she is able to both conduct high quality research and communicate information about pollinators in engaging and effective ways," said Katharina Ullmann who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis (Neal Williams lab) and is now a crop pollination specialist for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. "Anyone who saw her award-winning poster at the Bee Symposium or who experience the pollinator pavilion at Picnic day knows that pollinators are lucky to have Rei working for them!"

Scampavia received her bachelor's degree in biology in 2008 from Mills College, Oakland. She began her doctoral studies at UC Davis in 2011. She earlier served as a biological science technician (plants) for the U.S. Forest Service, Groveland, Calif., and ; a research consultant for BMP Ecosciences in San Francisco.

Active in the Entomological Society of America (ESA), Scampavia was a member of the 2014 UC Davis Student Debate Team that won first place in the nationals. She also was a member of the 2013 UC Davis Linnaean Games Team that won second at the annual meeting of the Pacific Branch of ESA.

If you want to meet Rei Scampavia and "talk bees," she'll be volunteering at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven open house from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Friday, June 19. The haven, managed by staff director Chris Casey and faculty director Elina Niño, Extension apiculturist, is located on Bee Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, west of the central campus.

The half-acre bee garden, operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology,  is filled with blooms, bees and butterflies!  The open house, free and open to the public, will include bee observation and identification, honey tasting, sales of native bee houses to support the haven, and information about low-water plants.

The garden is open to the public daily from dawn to dusk.

This is National Pollinator Week and what better time to post some bee wisdom from Cooperative Extension apiculturist (now emeritus) Eric Mussen?

Based in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, Mussen completed 38 years of service last June and is nationally and internationally known as "the honey bee guru."

"Most of us take pollinators for granted. That's a key reason why Gov. Jerry Brown has joined other governors throughout the country to celebrate June 15-21 as National Pollinator Week. It's a time to appreciate what bees, butterflies, beetles, bats and other pollinators do. Honey bees and native bees are especially important for the pollination of our agricultural crops. Without them, we'd be pretty much confined to a boring, unappealing and non-nutritious diet of wheat and rice."

"Many beekeepers can't keep their colonies alive, no thanks to pesticides, pests, parasites, diseases, stress and malnutrition. We humans negatively impact our bee populations by converting their natural habitat to an unnatural habit (for them): airports, highways, housing projects, shopping malls, and parking lots. Food sources and nesting habitat for pollinators continue to shrink. Use of herbicides reduces what little bee-food resources are left. In some cases, pesticides kill insect pollinators outright. In other cases, chronic exposure to sublethal doses of pesticide residues disrupts normal development of immature pollinators."

Mussen asks that we all "consider planting bee-attractive flowers that bloom well beyond late summer into fall. The colonies require good-sized populations of well-fed bees to survive through winter."

"Also, we should consider restricting the use of pesticides to those times that pollinators are not attracted to blooming flowers or weeds. This would prevent acute bee kills, contamination of stored pollens, and unnecessary use of bodily energy for detoxification of pesticide residues."

He adds: "It's good to see that the Almond Board of California--with the help of an advisory committee comprise of scientists, beekeepers and growers--generated a packet of materials: “Honey Bee Best Management Practices for California Almonds.” The impetus: a large number of colonies suffered serious pesticide damage during the 2014 almond pollination. The packets contain an 18-page pamphlet about honey bees, their management, and their protection. Included, as well, are two heavy-duty, laminated “Quick Guides” (in English and Spanish) to be taken into the fields as reminders of best management practices. You can request the free packets by contacting the Almond Board at (209) 549-8262 or downloading the document at http://www.almonds.com/growers/pollination. The information in the packets pertains equally well to most other crop situations."

"Our bees," Mussen says, "deserve the best."

That they do.