- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You won't find anyone more passionate about building a better bee than bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, who holds dual appointments at the University of California, Davis and Washington State University.
For one thing, her spring workshops on queen bee rearing and instrumental insemination at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis are already filled and there's a waiting list. Those on the waiting list--or at least some of them--are expected to register for her Washington state summer classes.
Those should fill up fast, too.
Cobey and her work are mentioned today in a Washington Post article, "In search of a better bee."
A key enemy of honey bees is the varroa mite, a parasitic critter that feeds on bee brood. Sometimes you'll even see it clinging to a foraging adult.
Cobey seeks to improve her stock. This includes building a better hygienic bee that can remove the varroa mites from the cells and the brood.
It's not an easy task.
"As vital as the hygienic bee is, the breeder must preserve desirable traits--a reluctance to sting or swarm, for example, as well as genetic diversity in a hedge against future diseases or pests," wrote Washington Post reporter Adrian Higgins.
"That's why gains are so slow," Cobey told her in the news story. "I would say we are just in the infancy of bee breeding."
Higgins wrote that Cobey is one of only a handful in the country skilled at artificially inseminating "virgin queens from known drone stock."
Why artificial insemination? When a virgin queen bee mates with drones in the drone congregation area (she mates in flight with a 12 to 20 drones or more), the breeding stock can't be controlled.
With queen bee insemination, it can be.
That's one of the reasons why Cobey's workshops draw students from throughout the world, and why they fill up fast.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're planning to join the ranks of backyard beekeepers in 2012, you should keep a few things in mind, says Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976, advises what to do and what not to do in his current edition of from the UC Apiaries.
One of the most important things, says Mussen, is not to become a laissez-faire beekeeper, that is, "place the bees in a hive and walk away, leaving the bees to fend for themselves." This can lead to serious problems for your colony and the health of your neighbors' colonies, he points out. Plus, it could lead to more stringent city and county ordinances.
You should always provide water for your bees on your property, Mussen says. Otherwise, they will visit the neighbor's "hanging laundry, bird bath, swamp cooler, dog dish, leaky hose connection, etc."
Mussen also advises:
--Use fencing or bushes to get the bees to fly up, then away from the apiary. "They will also attain that altitude on return flights.
--Use gentle stocks and "work" the bees during warm, nice middays. That "free" swarm you catch may not be of gentle stock (and it could be Africanized bee stock if it's collected in areas where Africanized bees are).
--Use smoke and slow, gentle movements.
--Inspect the brood periodically, twice a month, "to be certain that the queen is laying a good pattern, that the brood is healthy, and that there are adequate food stores for the time of year."
And, Mussen says, "if you need to feed the bees, start feeding after flight ends for the day, to help prevent robbing."
Mussen offers a wealth of information in his current newsletter, the other bimonthly editions (dating back to 1976), and Bee Briefs.
Bottom line: if you're going to keep bees, Mussen says, "be a beekeeper, not a bee-haver."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Lots of youngsters received teddy bears as holiday gifts.
But native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, received a teddy bear, too.
Of sorts.
A male valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta), aka "teddy bear," recently visited his Davis home during the long holiday season. "We found it behind the couch," he said.
It's a green-eyed blond and fuzzy just like a teddy bear, thus its name. The female are solid black.
To the untrained eye, the male is often thought to be "a new species, a golden bumble bee." We get scores of telephone calls asking what this "big yellow bumble bee" is. A bumble bee, it isn't. A carpenter bee, it is.
Every time I see the females buzzing around, I think "Can the 'teddy bears' be far behind?"
I saw one zipping through our garden last summer but it never stopped long enough for me to capture its image.
But with Thorp's "teddy bear," I could. It's in his refrigerator, spending part of the winter there. Soon, he said, he'll give it a little honey.
Sweet!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Gotta love those entomologists and all the "bug people" who love bugs.
The folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology on the UC Davis campus not only love their bugs but they're quite creative in showcasing them.
Take Fran Keller, a UC Davis Department of Entomology doctoral candidate who studies beetles with major professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart. Several days ago, during lunch, Keller crafted a colorful outline of a yule tree using assorted beetle specimens.
That was the tree. Then came the wreath.
Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator, figured--and correctly so--that the metallic greens and reds would make a stunning wreath. So, she assembled a wreath starring carabids (ground beetles), scarabs, buprestids (metallic wood-boring beetles), a katydid and a praying mantis, among other insects.
James Heydon, 10, of Davis, whose father is a senior museum scientist at the Bohart Museum, thought it quite pretty as he watched Yang make the wreath on Friday, Dec. 23.
Will he become an entomologist?
“I’m not sure,” he said, but he does like bugs.
There’s no “Bah, humbug!” in his vocabulary.
Meanwhile, Bohart Museum personnel are gearing up for the next weekend open house, themed “A New Year, a New Bug, How Insects are Discovered.” Free and open to the public, the event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14 at the museum, located at 1124 Academic Surge on the UC Davis campus.
The Bohart Museum, home of more than seven million insects, houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum in 1946.
On any given day, visitors also can enjoy a live “petting zoo” with such permanent residents as Madagascar hissing cockroaches and walking sticks. A gift shop, where visitors can purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry, insect nets and “insect candy,” is also open.
It's a fun and educational place to be.
The Bohart Museum launched its series of weekend openings for the fall season on Saturday, Sept. 24 with “Catch, Collect and Curate: Entomology 101.”
The remaining schedule for the 2011-2012 academic year:
Saturday, Jan. 14, 1 to 4 p.m.: “A New Year, a New Bug, How Insects Are Discovered”
Sunday, Feb. 12, 1 to 4 p.m.: “Bug Lovin’”
Saturday, March 10, 1 to 4 p.m.: “Hide ‘n’ Seek: Insect Camouflage”
Saturday, April 21: 10 to 3 p.m.: UC Davis Picnic Day
Saturday, May 12, 1 to 4 p.m.: “Pre-Moth’ers Day”
Sunday, June 3, 1 to 4 p.m.: “Bug Light, Bug Bright…First Bug I See Tonight.”
The Bohart's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It is closed on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information is available on the Bohart website or by contacting Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-0493. (Due to limited space, group tours will not be booked during the weekend hours.)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Assistant professors Louie Yang and Joanna Chiu have just announced the UC Davis Department of Entomology's list of seminar speakers for the winter quarter.
And what a list it is!
It's a winter wonderland of speakers. And the good news is, most will be webcast and then posted on UCTV, compliments of a project led by professor James R. Carey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
The seminars begin Wednesday, Jan. 11 and will continue every Wednesday through March 21. All will be held from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, Klieber Hall Lane.
One subject that's sure to attract a lot of attention: pollen and pollinators. We're looking forward to hearing T’ai Roulston, research associate professor and curator, State Arboretum of Virginia, speak Feb. 1 on "Pollen as a Resource for Pollinators: What Governs Quality?"
In fact, we're looking forward to all of the speakers!
Here's the line-up:
Jan. 11: Denise Ferkey, assistant professor, State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, will speak on "Regulation of Chemosensory Signaling in C. elegans."
Hosts: Valerie Williamson, professor of nematology, and Ed Lewis, professor of nematology and entomology and acting chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
Jan. 18: Anurag Agrawal, professor of ecology at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., will speak on "Evolutionary Ecology of Plant Defenses."
Host: Andrew Merwin of the Michael Parrella lab.
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
Jan. 25: Mary Louise Flint, Cooperative Extension specialist and associate director for Urban and Community IPM, UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, will speak on "Educating the Urban Public about Insect Pests and their Management."
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
Feb. 1: T’ai Roulston, research associate professor and curator, State Arboretum of Virginia, will speak on "Pollen as a Resource for Pollinators: What Governs Quality?"
Host: Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology.
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
Feb. 8: Damian Elias, assistant professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, will speak on "Multimodal Communication in Jumping Spiders."
Host: Leslie Saul of the Neal Williams lab.
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
Feb. 15: Jamesina J. Scott, district manager and research director, Lake County Vector Control District, will speak on "Aedes japonicus -- Tracking an Invasive Mosquito We Knew Very Little About."
Host: Brittany Mills of the William Reisen lab.
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
Feb. 22: Jennifer Thaler, associate professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., will speak on "Tri-Trophic Plant-Insect Interactions in Solanaceous Plants."
Host: Billy Krimmel of the Jay Rosenheim lab
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
Feb. 29: Jay Rosenheim, professor of entomology at UC Davis, will speak on "Insect Ecology in Natural and Agricultural Systems."
Host: Kelly Hamby of the Frank Zalom lab.
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
March 7: Candice Stafford, graduate student researcher in the Diane Ullman lab, will speak on "A Virus at the Helm: Infection with Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Modifies Thrips Feeding Behavior."
Host: Diane Ullman, professor of entomology and associate dean for undergraduate academic programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
March 14: Ulrich Mueller, W. M. Wheeler Lost-Pines Professor of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, will speak on "Ant-Microbe Interaction and Evolution."
Host: Marek Borowiec of the Phil Ward lab.
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
March 21: Stephen Welter, professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, and associate dean of instruction and student affairs, will speak on "Pheromone Mating Disruption Systems for Management of Insects in Perennial Crops: New Successes with Old Problems."
Host: Steve Seybold, UC Davis Department of Entomology affiliate
To be webcast and posted on UCTV
