- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Possession is nine-tenths of the law.
It also applies to bees foraging on lavender.
A black-faced bumble bee (Bombus californicus) this morning stretched between two lavender stems and lingered there--probably to warm its wings for flight. Along comes a honey bee (Apis mellifera) interested only in foraging for nectar.
The bumble bee holds its ground--or the stems.
The honey bee glances over at the yoga pose, sips some nectar, and buzzes off--this time probably hoping for an unoccupied blossom.
So, what does "possession is nine-tenths of the law" really mean?
Says Wikipedia: "Although the principle is an oversimplification, it can be restated as: 'In a property dispute (whether real or personal), in the absence of clear and compelling testimony or documentation to the contrary, the person in actual, custodial possession of the property is presumed to be the rightful owner."
When we left the lavender patch, the bumble bee was still in possession. But they did share. Momentarily.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's a delight to see boy bumble bees sleeping overnight in the lavender.
Two species of bumble bees--Bombus vosnesenkii and Bombus californicus--have been slumbering in our lavender for the past several weeks. Sometimes they nestle a half inchs from one another and other times they're a foot or more apart.
Usually the honey bees began foraging in the lavender before they do.
The yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, and the black-faced bumble bee, Bombus californicus, are two of the bees featured in Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide, published by the Princeton University Press and authored by Paul Williams, Robbin Thorp, Leif Richardson and Sheila Colla.
Thorp, a native pollinator specialist and distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis. says there are 20,000 species of bees worldwide, and of that number, only 250 belong to the genus Bombus or bumble bees.
Several species of bumble bees in our bee garden seem to prefer the English lavender. They forage, they mate, and they sleep.
The females sleep in their underground nests at night, while the males sleep on the lavender stems.
They are a joy to have around--underground and above ground!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
We're almost midway through National Pollinator Week!
It's a week that we should celebrate every day.
Last weekend we spotted a newcomer to our backyard bee garden: a bumble bee species, Bombus fervidus, formerly known as Bombus californicus, as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, and bumble bee enthusiast Gary Zamzow of Davis.
The female was heading toward a purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, and then touched down in a "Queen-of-the-Mountain" moment.
This bumble bee species is commonly known as "the yellow bumble bee," according to the co-authors of the newly published Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide, authored by Paul Williams, Robbin Thorp, Leif Richardson and Sheila Colla (Princeton University Press).
It's widely spread across the continent. "Evidence from DNA barcodes supports a close relationship between individuals with the darker color pattern in the west (named californicus) and individuals with the lighter color patterns in the east (named fervidus)," they wrote.
So, despite the images of californicus all over the web, including BugGuide.net and discoverlife.org, it and fervidus appear to be the same species.
Who knew? DNA.
/span>/span>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Every once in a while you see it.
And it's a real treat--especially when it's a bee garden that's synonomous with treat.
We tracked the black-faced bumble bee (Bombus californicus) in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly demonstration garden at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis.
Her nectaring preferrence left no doubt: grey musk sage (Salvia "Pozo Blue"). She serendipitously posed by the identification label.
Another bumble bee species common to the garden is the yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii).
But only Bombus californicus posed.
The garden, located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus, is open from dawn to dusk. There's no admission. It's a joy to walk the paths featuring vegetables, fruits, nuts (almonds) and ornamentals.
Just don't forget to bring your camera.
Bombus californicus might pose for you.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you stuff your turkey with sage, chances are it's Salvia officinalis.
Not the turkey, the sage.
And if you visit the Storer Garden at the UC Davis Arboretum, you'll see bumble bees stuffing themselves with nectar from the purple flowers of Salvia officinalis, cultivar Berggarten, also known as Berggarten sage.
Scores of Bombus californicus nectared the flowers last weekend, seemingly proving that this is indeed a culinary sage favored by people AND bumble bees.
Salvia officinalis (salvia is Latin for "to heal") shows up in both medicinal and culinary history. In fact, Wikipedia says our ancestors used it to ward off evil and snakebites, to increase women's fertility, "and more."
The "and more" means just that. Think of every ailment known to humankind. Now fast forward to modern times. Some researchers are using it to treat mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease and depression.
On the culinary side, Julia Child favored it as a flavorful herb.
Bombus californicus probably knows something that Julia Child did.