It's The Cause.

Bee-Cause.

It's great to see the world's most renowned bee wrangler, Norm Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, come out of retirement to help out with a specific "UC Promise for Education" project spearheaded by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) Vice President Barbara Allen-Diaz.


In her promise to help UC students in financial need, Allen-Diaz says that if she raises $2500 by Oct. 31 she'll wear bees. Maybe not on her head, but on a UC ANR T-shirt or a UC ANR banner she'll be holding. And if she raises $5000, she'll eat insect larvae.

Enter Norm Gary. He'll be 80 in November and he retired from beekeeping last month after 66 years (yes, 66 years) of beekeeping. He earlier retired from UC Davis (1994).  During his 32-year academic career, he did scientific bee research, wrote peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, crafted inventions, and wrangled bees.  

As a professional bee wrangler, Norm Gary is the guy that Hollywood movie directors picked to train bees for their productions. He's also appeared on numerous TV shows, orchestrated bee cluster stunts, and periodically played his b-flat clarinet while wearing a full bee suit from head to toe. He once trained 109 bees to enter his mouth (he holds a Guinness Book of World Records for that). Read more about his accomplishments (UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website) and on his personal website.

If Allen-Diaz raises $2500, the stunt will take place next spring at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. If she raises $5000, it will be time to devour some tasty insect larvae! 

You can donate $10, $15, $20, $100 or more by accessing Allen-Diaz' promise page. Just access http://promises.promiseforeducation.org/fundraise?fcid=269819.

You can also add a few comments as to why you're donating to help UC students. It could be in memory of a loved one, because you support the good work that UC ANR and Barbara Allen-Diaz do, or because you want to honor the amazing career of Norm Gary. 

Or, you just may want to help raise public awareness of our declining bee population.

As Allen-Diaz says: "I am a true believer in the importance of honey bees and the importance of bees as pollinators in our agricultural and wild ecosystems. The health of agriculture and the health of the planet depend on the health and survival of our honey bees."

Thursday, Oct. 17 is Pest Management Day at UC Davis.

That's when the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) partners with the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources for the 21st Century Invasive Pest Management Symposium Series: "Globalization, Climate Change and Other 21st Century Challenges" at the UC Davis Conference Center.

It's actually the fourth in a series of symposia on invasive pest management. This one deals with "Invasion Biology (Part 2): Invasive Insects, Disease and Nematodes."  Daniel Simberloff, professor of environmental science ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee, will keynote the symposium.

Who will be there? According to organizer David Pegos, CDFA special assistant for plant health, the attendees represent non-governmental organizations, industry, academia and other interested parties.  "In addition to the CDFA leadership team, represented will be the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, the County Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association, UC Cooperative Extension, and the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program," Pegos said.

The goals of the symposium are two-fold: (1) to explore 21st century invasive pest management challenges and possible improvements to CDFA policies and procedures, and (2) to foster communication and understanding among the diverse people involved in California's food and agricultural systems.

But today, a group of conference attendees met at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road to look not at pests, but at beneficial insects—honey bees.

Billy Synk, who wears three hats (beekeeper, staff research associate and manager of the Laidlaw facility), talked about bees and their health, answered questions, and then the group donned protective gear to take a close look at a colony.

Synk pointed out the queen bee, the workers and the immature brood, much to the fascination of the group. Many had never been that close to bees before. "I stepped on one once," said one woman. 

That was about as close as she could get--until now.

What are the indirect effects of parasites and pesticides on pollination service?

Ecologist Sandra Gillespie, a postdoctoral researcher in the Neal Williams lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will present the results of her research at a departmental seminar from 12:10 to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16 in 122 Briggs Hall. It will be recorded for later posting on UCTV.

“Whether in natural or agro-ecosystems, researchers are increasingly viewing positive interactions such as pollination in a broader context rather than as isolated pair-wise interactions,” Gillespie says. “In natural ecosystems, my research has explored how incidence of parasites and diseases of native bumble bees may affect pollination of plants in old-field meadows in Massachusetts. High incidence of certain parasites reduced pollination of bumble bee-dependent wild plants, suggesting that parasitism may impact pollination service to native plants and crops.”

“In a more applied context, I examined the effects of field management decisions, including pesticide use and irrigation practices, on pollination service in onion seed production in California. High insecticide use, even pre-bloom, as well as reduced irrigation negatively impact pollinator visitation in this crop, highlighting the importance of considering the indirect effects of management on the pollination process in agro-ecosystems.”

Gillespie delivered a similar presentation at 2012 meeting of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.

Gillespie, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis since 2011, received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Simon Fraser University, Canada, and her doctorate in both entomology and organismic and evolutionary biology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

As a postdoc in the Williams lab, Gillespie is examining the mechanisms behind yield declines in hybrid onion seed production in California, with the goal of developing sustainable recommendations for producers.

Gillespie will be leaving UC Davis the first week of December; she has accepted a position at Simon Fraser University (starting Jan. 1) to work as a postdoc with Elizabeth Elle in the biology department.  "I'll be studying pollinator-mediated selection in a community and landscape context," she said.

Her research on “Factors Affecting Parasite Prevalence among Wild Bumble Bees,” was published in Ecology Entomology, 2010.  She has also published her work in the American Journal of Botany  (“Variation in the Timing of Autonomous Selfing among Populations that Differ in Flower Size, Time to Reproductive Maturity, and Climate,” 2010) and Annals of the Entomological Society of America (“Laboratory Rearing of North American Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae: Cicindelinae,” 2011).

Pending publication in the Journal of Economic Entomology: “Insecticide Use in Hybrid Onion Seed Production Affects Pre- and Post-Pollination Processes,” the work of Gillespie, Neal Williams, Rachael Long and Nicola Seitz. 

The question begged for an answer.

"It's yellowjacket time again.  Does anyone have or recommend a good trap?"

A Bay Area beekeeper today sought recommendations from ledEric Mussen, Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Mussen, who recently co-authored "Yellowjackets and Other Social Pests" on the UC IPM website with Michael Rust of UC Riverside, responded candidly.

"There are a number of ways that people try to deal with populations of yellowjackets at this time of year," he told her.

1. If you can find the nesting area, a whole colony can be dealt with, directly.
2. If you can’t find the nest, then most people resort to trapping, since putting out poisonous baits no longer is legal.  You can purchase the yellow plastic traps at hardware and nursery stores, etc.  You can catch quite a substantial number of wasps, but that often does not alleviate the problem.  Similar traps in the spring, to intercept the foundresses, accomplishes a lot more in the long run.  These traps contain a pheromone that attracts the wasps.  Put the traps a good distance away from where you hope to have a wasp-free location.
3. In many outdoor areas, people will tie a piece of raw meat suspended over a tub of detergent water.  The wasps come and gorge themselves, then tumble into the water and drown.  Again, this does not mean that you will get them all and no longer be vexed.  Also, you may have to deal with other scavengers that will eat old meat.
4. If the wasps are going after your bees, this is a good time to put “robbing screens” on the entrances to your hives.  They pretty much stop honey bee robbing and they are helpful with wasp problems, too, where the wasp populations are not too high. You can see my idea of a good design at my Bee Briefs on our Entomology website. See Robbing Screen.

Western Yellowjackets (Vespula pensylvanica) like to hang around or nest near apiaries because it's "one-stop shopping," as former UC Davis postdoctoral scholar Erin Wilson, now  an assistant professor of entomology at UC Riverside, said at a UC Davis seminar in December 2010.

Yellowjackets prey on honey bees. They raid the hives (killing the adults and brood, and stealing honey) and take the food back to their young.

Yes, it's that time again when beekeepers figuratively "see red" when they see yellow (jackets).