- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The purplish-blue spiked flowers attract honey bees, bumble bees and syrphid flies.
And visitors. And photographers.
The honey bees were buzzing all over the Echium last Sunday, Feb. 16, as were syrphid flies, aka hover flies or flower flies. But a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, preferred to hide beneath the leaf of a passionflower vine (Passiflora). Next time!
The towering Pride of Maderia, which can easily reach a height of six feet or more, is the pride of the Portuguese island of Madeira, where it's endemic. It's an evergreen bush planted as a drought-tolerant ornamental, particularly in coastal communities. It even gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Wikipedia informs us that the genus name is derived from the Greek "echion," and that the root word "echis" means "viper." Think snake. Apparently the shape of the seed resembles that of a viper's head. Another interpretation: there's an age-old belief that another Echium species, Echium vulgare, aka "Viper's Bugloss," is a remedy for the adder's bite.
However, Echium candicans is not so popular in the state of Victoria, Australia, where it is considered "a high weed risk" and its very presence prompts the Department of Primary Industries to send in the troops...er...alerts.
The first blooms of the year in Bodega, though, are cause for celebration.
And speaking of bees and blooms, you'll want to sign up for the "Pollinator Gardening Workshop, Your Sustainable Backyard,"set Saturday, March 15 at UC Davis. Hosted by the California Center for Urban Horticulture (CCHU), it will take place at Giedt Hall, UC Davis campus, with a side trip to the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Garden, just west of the campus, on Bee Biology Road.
Registration is underway at on the CCHU website.
CCHU program manager Anne Schellman says that this will be an informative workshop where participants will learn:
- How to identify common bee pollinators
- How to make a landscape pollinator-friendly
- Which plants pollinators prefer
- The latest research about honey bee health and pollinator habitat
- How UC Davis helps honey bees at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Garden
Honey bee and native pollinator specialists with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will be among the speakers. (See previous Bug Squad blog.)


- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
This is no ordinary calendar. No oceans. No mountains. No deserts.
Each month features a "pin-up girl."
But these models will never run for Miss America or promote world peace. Only a few have social skills and most are solitary.
Take a look at Miss May. She's a sweat bee. Take a look at Miss August. She's a squash bee. And Miss December? A cuckoo bee.
They're all a part of the second annual "North American Bee Calendar." And...drum roll...the first ordering deadline is rapidly approaching: it's Friday, Oct. 15.
“It's our second annual calendar, a project aimed at protecting pollinators, raising public awareness and generating funds to carry on the work of The Great Sunflower Project and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation,” said native bee enthusiast and calendar project coordinator Celeste Ets-Hokin of the San Francisco Bay Area. “Most of these bees are commonly found and important pollinators.”
The calendar, measuring 9x12, features close-up photos by noted insect photographer Rollin Coville, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley. He has been photographing insects--and spiders--for more than 25 years.
The calendar spotlights a different bee genus each month, with notes on preferred plants, nesting needs, and guidance on how to identify the genus, said author Ets-Hokin, who holds a degree in zoology from UC Berkeley.
Bees appearing in the calendar and the scientific names are:
January: Honey Bee (Apis)
February: Bumble Bee (Bombus)
March: Digger Bee (Habropoda)
April: Mason Bee (Osmia)
May: Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum)
June: Ultra Green Sweat Bee (Agapostemon)
July: Leafcutter Bee (Megachile)
August: Squash Bee (Peponapis)
September: Long-horned Bee (Melissodes)
October: Carder Bee (Anthidium)
November: Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa)
December: Cuckoo Bee (Epeolus)
Matthew Shepherd, senior conservation associate of the Xerces Society, and Ets-Hokin served as editors, and Miguel Barbosa as the graphic designer. Four scientists shared their research expertise: Neal Williams and Robbin Thorp of UC Davis; Gordon Frankie and Claire Kremen of UC Berkeley; and Rachael Winfree of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. In addition, contributing photos were Shepherd and Ets-Hokin, along with yours truly.
Purchasing a $15 calendar ($18 if you have an overseas address) is a good way to protect our badly needed pollinators and to raise public awareness.
Folks can place their orders by accessing the Xerces website or The Great Sunflower Project website. (Preview calendar)
Order by Oct. 15 and you'll get your calendar by late October, Ets-Hokin says. The last deadline to order is Nov. 30. For more information or discount rates for 25 calendars or more, contact Ets-Hokin at celeste.ets@comcast.net.
