- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Look, over there!
It's Thanksgiving Week and there's a newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary on a tattered pink zinnia "that looks as it has seen better days," as my mother used to say.
The orange of autumn exploding, the silver of yultide beckoning. Silver and bold...
And here's an orange butterfly nectaring on a pink zinnia...
We usually see all life stages of the Gulf Frits, aka "passion butterflies," on their host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora) from early summer to late fall in our Vacaville garden.
This one is the last of the season, the last of its generation, the last to show its colors.
Buddy, it's too late to find a mate, and quite late to come to the table for a little nectar.
On this Thanksgiving Day, as we give thanks for the gifts of life, life brings us more gifts.
Happy Thanksgiving!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Thanksgiving Day, and as we sit down with family and friends to count our blessings, let's thank the bees.
If your table includes pumpkin, cranberries, carrots, cucumbers, onions, apples, oranges, cherries, blueberries, grapefruit, persimmons, pomegranates, pears, sunflower seeds, and almonds, praise the bees for their pollination services.
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are generalists, while the squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa) are specialists that pollinate only the cucurbits or squash family, Cucurbitaceae.
And don't forget the spices. Honey bees visit the plants that eventually comprise our spices, including sage, basil, oregano and thyme.
Ready for dessert? Ice cream? Even milk and ice cream are closely linked to the honey bee. Cows feed on alfalfa, which is pollinated by honey bees (along with other bees).
Happy Thanksgiving!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're having pumpkin pie or butternut squash this Thanksgiving, thank the squash bee.
Squash bees are specialists (not generalists) that pollinate only the cucurbits or squash family, Cucurbitaceae, which includes pumpkins, squash, gourds, cucumbers and zucchini.
Last summer we saw dozens of Peponapis pruinosa pollinating our squash and cucumbers. Peponapis pruinosa is a species of solitary bee in the tribe Eucerini, the long-horned bees.
"Isn't that a honey bee?" a friend asked.
"No, it's a squash bee; it's smaller than the honey bee."
"Never heard of it."
Other factoids, as shared with us by the late Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis:.
- Both the males and females are golden brown with a fuzzy yellow thorax. The males have a yellow spot on their face.
- Males sleep in the blossoms at night. There they wait for the females to arrive.
- Squash bees are early risers (they rise before the sun does). They begin pollinating the blossoms as soon as they open in the morning. Other bee species, such as honey bees, don't visit the flowers so early. The squash blossoms close after several hours so there's a limited amount of pollination time.
If you're aiming to photograph them, get there early. If you don't, you will find the blossoms closing.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Thanksgiving. Count your blessings--and thank the bees.
If your table includes pumpkin, cranberries, carrots, cucumbers, onions, apples, oranges, cherries, blueberries, grapefruit, persimmons, pomegranates, pears, sunflower seeds, and almonds, thank the bees for their pollination services.
Ice cream for dessert? Thank the bees for that, too. Cows feed on alfalfa, which is pollinated by bees, and cows provide milk, a key ingredient for ice cream.
Honey bees provide us with honey, often described as "the soul of a field of flowers." But more than that, they pollinate some 100 crops, from almonds to watermelon.
So, besides saying "Happy Turkey Day," we ought to include "Happy Bee Day!"
An old Irish blessing:
“Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Love your neighbor as much as yourself.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
President Obama just pardoned a couple of turkeys--Apple and Cider. They won't make it to the White House Thanksgiving dinner today.
But what he could have done--when he was pardoning the turkeys--was to praise the honey bees.
Without honey bees, Thanksgiving Day dinner--as we know it--would not exist.
It's time to "bee" thankful.
If your table includes pumpkin, cranberries, carrots, cucumbers, onions, apples, oranges, cherries, blueberries, grapefruit, persimmons, pomegranates, pears, sunflower seeds, and almonds, thank the bees for their pollination services.
Spices? Thank the bees, too. Bees visit the plants that eventually comprise our spices, including sage, basil, oregano and thyme.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, says that even milk and ice cream are linked closely to the honey bee. Cows feed on alfalfa, which is pollinated by honey bees (along with other bees).
So, pardon the turkeys? Well, at least "Apple" and "Cider." But let's praise the honey bees, too.
And pomegranates!
