- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's an incredible photo.
Nicole "Nikki" Nicola, a staff research associate in the Frank Zalom lab in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, University California, Davis, captured an image in her back yard of both the male and female Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) sharing the same passionflower (Passiflora).
Most of us often see--and hear--the solid black female, but not so much the green-eyed blond male. And rarely together.
But to see them on the same flower? What a great example of sexual dimorphism!
Amazing.
Nicola works with Zalom, an integrated pest management specialist and distinguished professor of entomology. A noted entomologist, he is a past president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America.
As for those Valley carpenter bees, the next time you see the female frequenting the Passiflora, check out those tiny grains of golden pollen. They look for all the world like gold dust.
Valley carpenter bees are found in the Central Valley and southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and southward through Mexico, according to native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
What does a bee have in common with a bulldog?
If you've ever been to Cornerstone Sonoma on Arnold Drive (Highway 121) in Sonoma, and admired the luxurious gardens and intriguing shops, you know. The bees go head-first in the blossoms and Axel, an English bulldog, goes head-first in a bucket.
Bees and blossoms. Bulldog and bucket. You pick.
Axel, the mascot at one of the shops, Artefact Design and Salvage, likes to play tug-of-war or keep-a-way with a bucket. That's the only thing on his bucket list: the bucket. For the bees, four items are on their bucket list: nectar, pollen, propolis and water.
Cornerstone Sonoma, smack-dab in Wine Country, is not really meant for bees and a bulldog. It's home to more than 20 artistic gardens, the creations of renowned landscape architects and designers. It's also the site of thought-provoking indoor and outdoor art. Visitors frequent the art galleries, wineries and a restaurant.
However, we go for the bees and the blossoms, and then for the bulldog and his bucket.
It's a win-win situation with the bees, but not so with the bulldog. if you think you can beat Axel at his bucket game, no, you can't. He wins; you lose.
Every time.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The bush germander (Teucrium fruticans) is definitely a great fall-winter plant that's a magnet for bees. Just look at the bees that frequent the germander in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road at UC Davis.
As soon as the temperature rises to a sunny 50 or 55 (good bee-flying weather), the honey bees head over to the haven from the nearby Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.
Last Saturday's visit to the haven yielded an "out-to-lunch" bunch that included a dozen honey bees in the germander and one syrphid fly (aka flower fly or hover fly). Bumble bee aficionado Gary Zamzow, one of the volunteers in the haven, found something better: A bumble bee, a queen Bombus melanopygus or black-tailed bumble bee, foraging in the germander.
The germander bush is one of several plants blooming in the haven in the dead of winter, according to Missy Borel, haven volunteer and program manager of the California Center for Urban Horticulture at UC Davis. Among the others blooming or just finishing a bloom:
- Autumn sage (Salvia greggii)
- Blanket flower (Gallardia)
- Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens)
- Butterfly rose (Rosa mutabilis)
- Catmint (Nepeta)
- Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii)
- Coreopsis (Coreopsis)
- Red hot poker (Kniphofia)
- Dwarf plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides)
- Oregano (Origanum vulgare ‘Betty Rollins’ )
- Lavender (Lavandula)
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus)
- Sage (salvia)
- Seaside daisies (Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick')
"Honey bees in California will seek forage on warm sunny days in California," Thorp noted. "Some Asteraceae and mint family flowers will continue blooming and provide some food for honey bees, but they primarily rely on their stored honey to get them through the winter."