- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The information they glean, process and retain as they learn about the importance of bees.
That's what's in store for classes attending field trips to the UC Davis Bee Haven, a half-acre public bee garden located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central UC Davis campus.
The problem is--not that many schools can afford field trips.
"Our CrowdFund will provide funding to three Title I schools or affiliated youth groups that will cover the guided tour fee and transportation costs for up to 50 people (students, teachers, parents) to participate in a 90-minute field trip at the Bee Haven on the UC Davis campus," according to Christine Casey, academic program management officer for the UC Davis Bee Haven, an educational bee demonstration garden maintained and operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
"We will fund up to $1000 per school," she writes on the Crowdfund website. "Our unique outdoor learning adventure has been experienced by nearly 50,000 visitors since 2013."
"Participants will see and learn about the 200 plant and 80 bee species that occur at the Haven. They will safely catch and observe bees and participate in a grade-appropriate bee monitoring exercise that will introduce them to scientific research and create a memorable learning adventure about bees, plants, science, and the natural world. We'll also provide books for each school's library that can be used to extend program impact."
The bee garden, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, is open daily from dawn to dusk except for Tuesdays (open at 10 a.m.) "so we can maintain physical distance during garden maintenance," Casey says.
The Haven was installed in the fall of 2009. Self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis created the six-foot-long, 200-pound ceramic mosaic sculpture of a worker bee using ebar, chicken wire, sand, cement, tile, bronze, steel, grout, fiberglass and handmade ceramic pieces. Installed in 2010 near an almond tree, Billick named it "Miss Bee Haven." Bee scientists marvel at the anatomical accuracy, right down to pollen baskets and stinger. Visitors eye it, examine it, and photograph it.
Want to learn more about the fundraising project? View Casey's YouTube video and access the Haven website.
All contributions to support the fundraising project are welcome and appreciated. Click the CrowdFund site at https://crowdfund.ucdavis.edu/project/29773. The goal is $3000. The project ends at 12:59 p.m., Feb. 28.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The funds will be used for the student educational projects: creating traveling specimen display boxes to be shown in school classrooms, fairs, festivals, museums, hospitals, libraries, special events and the like, such as 4-H programs.
As they say on their website: "The Bohart Museum of Entomology is a research collection and public museum dedicated to understanding, documenting and communicating terrestrial arthropod diversity. In our 75th year, the Bohart has maintained a robust outreach program that typically connects with over 10,000 people each year. Portable educational boxes have been a great way for us to share the museum experience with others. Housed in the same specimen boxes that we use for the research collection, these displays travel all over Northern California to festivals, events, museums, hospitals and classrooms. UC Davis students, staff, teachers and scout leaders routinely borrow these materials to enrich their programs."
The museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, originated in 1946 with two Schmitt boxes of insect specimens collected by noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), UC Davis professor of entomology and museum founder. Named the Bohart Museum in 1982, it is now the home of nearly eight million insect specimens, collected worldwide.
The Bohart Museum, currently closed to the public due to COVID-19 precautions, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. In addition to its insect collection, the seventh largest in North America, it houses a live “petting zoo,” comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas, and a gift shop (now online), stocked with insect-themed t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, books, posters and other items. Further information is on the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.
- Attardo Family
- Dustin Blakey
- In Honor of Lynn Kimsey from Jason and Kristen Bond
- In Honor of Lynn Kimsey from Bonnie Bradt
- Bjorn Bush
- Joanna Chiu
- Molly Ferrell
- Glen Forister
- In Honor of Tabatha Yang from Elaine Gibson
- In Honor of Lynn Kimsey from Jessica Gillung
- In Memory of Robbin W. Thorp from James Matthew Gonzales-Harris
- Tiki Harlow
- Timotheus Itoi
- In Memory of Nick Booster from Hanna Kahl
- In Memory of Robbin Thorp, (1933-2019) UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology from Kathy Keatley Garvey
- In Memory of Richard M. Bohart from Lynn Kimsey
- Stephanie Kurniawan
- In Memory of Michel MJ Lavoipierre from his children Frédérique, Xavier, and Philippe Lavoipierre
- Pam Marrone and Mick Rogers
- Gwyneth Morris
- Eric Mussen
- Michelle Posey
- Oliver Ramsey
- Linda Rosenfield and Arnold Menke
- Nancie Ryan
- Heather Sabin
- Luana Staiger
- James Starrett
- In Honor of Tabatha Yang from Ralph Washington Jr.
- Nancy Williams
- Valerie Williamson
- Karey Windbiel-Rojas
- In Honor of Kathy Keatley Garvey and her Bug Squad Blog from an Anonymous Donor
- In Honor of Earth's Flora and Fauna from an Anonymous Donor
- In Honor of Tabatha Yang from an Anonymous Donor
- And all other Anonymous Donors
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The public will benefit from the Bohart Museum of Entomology's UC Davis Crowd Fund, a $5000 fundraising drive that ends at 11:59 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 31.
With the funds, UC Davis students will create portable insect-specimen traveling boxes that make their way throughout Northern California to help folks learn about the exciting world of insect science, including bees, butterflies and beetles. The glass-topped boxes travel to school classrooms, youth group meetings (such as 4-H, Boy Scouts and Grange), festivals, libraries, fairs, special events, museums, hospitals--and more.
The Bohart Museum, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, originated in 1946 when noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), UC Davis professor of entomology, filled two Schmitt boxes with insect specimens. That was the beginning of the UC Davis insect museum. Named the Bohart Museum in 1982, it is now the home of nearly eight million insect specimens, collected worldwide
Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, drew praise last Saturday at the museum's 75h anniversary party, hosted by the Bohart Museum Society.
Emcee Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair and professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the newly named Associate Dean for Research and Outreach for Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, urged the crowd to help support the outreach mission of the museum.
“Collections have a tremendous educational value,” Bond said, “and they also have amazing research value as well. Discoveries of new species don't actually happen in the field, they happen in the museum collections. New species on the average spend about 25 years on the shelf before a graduate student, undergraduate student or a researcher pulls them off shelf and describes or discovers them.”
He offered a toast to Kimsey, who in turn praised the thousands of collectors “who have their names” on the specimens. “We've been doing this for a long time. Eventually we'll be able to serve the public again like we should. Otherwise it would just be a dead collection in a building somewhere.”
Kimsey interviewed “Doc” Bohart, then 82, in 1996 as part of the Aggie Videos collection. (See https://bit.ly/2Zv8rvO.) Bohart, who began his UC Davis career in 1946, chaired the Department of Entomology from 1963 to 1967.
Unparalleled Research. “His scientific research on insect taxonomy and systematics is unparalleled,” Kimsey wrote on the Bohart website. “His publications include three of the most important books on the systematics of the Hymenoptera, including the well-used volume Sphecid Wasps of the World. His journal publications total over 200 articles. He revised many groups of insects, discovered new host-associations or geographic ranges, and described many new species."
Kimsey, an alumnus of UC Davis, received her undergraduate degree in 1975 and doctorate in 1979. She joined the UC Davis faculty in 1989. A two-term president of the International Hymenopterists, and a recognized global authority on the systematics, biogeography and biology of the wasp families, Tiphiidae and Chrysididae, she won the 2020 C. W. Woodworth Award, the highest award given by the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America, for "her 31 years of outstanding accomplishments in research, teaching, education, outreach and public service."
The need to update and expand the Bohart Museum's traveling display is urgent, the scientists said.
“We have all these bright, students on campus with fresh and diverse perspectives," commented Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator. "We want to support their talent, so the funds we are raising will go to students for the creation of new traveling displays. This fleet of new educational drawers will expand and update what we can offer. Some of our current displays were created 15 years ago! One can only imagine all the places these drawers have been and all the people who have been inspired."
Donors can do so in memory of someone, a place, or a favorite insect. Bond donated $500 in honor of Lynn Kimsey, and Lynn Kimsey donated $500 in memory of the founder, Richard M. Bohart. The donation page, which includes a U.S. map of where the donors reside, is at https://bit.ly/3v4MoaJ
The Bohart Museum, currently closed to the public due to COVID-19 precautions, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. In addition to its insect collection, which is the seventh largest in North America, the museum houses a live “petting zoo,” comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas, and a gift shop (now online), stocked with insect-themed t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, books, posters and other items. Further information is on the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Think birds and bats, honey bees and hornets, butterflies and beetles, and the flowers they pollinate.
Think yeast cultures and cougars, and nematodes and nightingales, and lions and ladybugs.
Think bears and begonias, eels and egrets, and opossums and orangutans.
We're delighted to see the Crowdfund UC Davis hosting such programs as UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day (Month), the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven and the California Master Beekeeper Program to help them raise much needed funds.
Science matters. It always has. It always will. It amounts to who we were, who we are, and who we want to be in the world we want to live in.
The Crowdfund UC Davis project is described as "where alumni, students, parents and friends can make donations to support innovative projects that propel student engagement, new research discoveries, and efforts to expand UC Davis impact on California and the world."
These crowdfunding programs will continue through the month of February. Folks are asked to give a $5, $10, $20, or more.
Capsule information from the sites:
Project coordinators are Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology; Kyria Boundy-Mills, curator of the Phaff Yeast Culture Collectionand Rachel Alsheikh, a junior specialist and curatorial assistant at the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology
In its 10th year, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day remains a free, annual, educational event for the community. Each year thousands of visitors stroll the campus on the Saturday of Presidents' Day weekend, visiting UC Davis' biological collections and meeting and talking with scientists. Participating collections include, but are not limited to
- Anthropology Museum
- Arboretum and Public Garden
- Bohart Museum of Entomology
- Botanical Conservatory
- California Raptor Center
- Center for Plant Diversity
- Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
- Nematode Collection
- Marine Invertebrate Collection
- Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology
- Paleontology Collection
- Phaff Yeast Culture Collection
- Viticulture and Enology Collection (not participating this year but they have in the past)
This year, throughout the month of February, we will be offering a virtual “BioDivDay” with lectures, talks, and demos from experts, but we want our student interns to have the opportunity to take the lead on producing 15 cross-disciplinary videos and educational activities. These videos and activities will broaden our audience and will aim to reach underserved populations. Creating these resources and helping to plan for a future in-person event will solidify our students' science communication skills--skills that are crucial in this day and age. Your support will enable our diverse group of students to have a meaningful and lasting impact as science communicators for Biodiversity Museum Day.
Donations will not only help us sustain the free, in-person event, but it will also enable our student interns to take science outreach to a whole new level. Using their science communication skills, our interns will create 15 themed videos and associated educational activities related to Biodiversity Museum Day. The goal of these educational resources is to reach new audiences and to connect people from all walks of life to science and the biodiversity surrounding them.
To donate, click here:
https://crowdfund.ucdavis.edu/project/24310
Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño, serves as the director of the Haven. Chris Casey manages the half-acre garden, located on Bee Biology Road next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. It is part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Like to eat? Thank a bee! These hard-working animals pollinate nearly 90 percent of all flowering plants, including the fruits, nuts, and vegetables that make our diets tasty and nutritious. Bees also pollinate the plants that create food and habitat for birds and most other wildlife. It's clear: healthy, abundant bee populations are vital.
But bees are in trouble and they need our help. California has about 1600 native bee species; along with the non-native honey bee all are pollinators. Bees need flowers, and the Haven is a source of information and inspiration about what and how to plant. From a single flowerpot to acres, we can all do something to help.
Our goal is $5000 to purchase plants, irrigation supplies, and tools for the Haven to continue our vital mission of inspiration and education about bees and the plants that support them.
To donate, click here:
https://crowdfund.ucdavis.edu/project/24323
Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology founded and directs the California Master Beekeeper Program. Wendy Mather serves as the program manager.
The California Master Beekeeper Program at UC Davis is raising funds for an online, accessible, 'Beekeeper's Apprentice' course that is educational, engaging and entertaining for all ages.
Learners will explore the intersection of honey bees, beekeepers, farmers, food diversity and security and become beginner beekeepers and honey bee ambassadors, equipped to explain the basics of beekeeping and honey bee biology, and to convey the devastating effects of pesticides, pests, pathogens, habitat destruction, and climate change on our beloved bees. The online course is a series of science-based modules in which you and your avatar, the Beekeepers' Apprentice explore and earn badges for the knowledge and skill you acquire about honey bee biology, beekeeping basics, equipment and PPE, public safety, and the future of farming and food security. You'll get a ‘bees-eye' view of what it's like to be a honey bee through video and audio from inside the hive, and examine the benefits and challenges faced by today's beekeepers and honey bees. This course will be accessible to learners across all demographics so kids and grownups can enjoy "pollinating" and sharing the science behind the relationship between honey bees and our fresh healthy food.
Your donation is a legacy to help ensure the health and longevity of our honey bees. Money raised for our "Beekeepers' Apprentice" course is an investment in science-based knowledge relative to our food security and the health of our environment now and for future generations - let's educate as many people as we can about the plight of our precious honey bees. Together we can bee the change!
Please support the California Master Beekeeper Program, where our current priority is an online, fully accessible, fun, science-based course to raise awareness of our dependence on honey bees for the many delicious and healthy foods we sometimes take for granted! Thank you for your support and consideration in bee-coming a honey bee ambassador and environmental steward!
To donate, click here:
