- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's NOT because they're unnecessary. She supplies them.
“I tell them when they join not to buy bees or equipment because I catch swarms for them and I have a lot of donated equipment including suits of all sizes,” said Ettamarie, widely known as Sonoma County's Queen Bee. “I give the parents and big teenagers the adult suits. It is important for at least one parent to have a suit because they are always there when we open the hives and I try to encourage parents to get involved. That is not hard to do because it isn't unusual for the parent to be the one pushing the child into the project because they want to know more about beekeeping!”
During the past 4-H year, September to June (similar to a traditional school year) she caught 19 swarms in the area and gave 17 to the 4-H'ers.
“I had to replace some colonies when the swarms failed to thrive,” she said. ”These young people are really understanding of all the things that can cause a colony to crash. We do forensics on failed colonies at some meetings. We discuss what can or did go wrong. I am always so pleased to hear them use great bee vocabularies. Even the little ones surprise me by their great questions and responses to my questions! It always puts a smile on my face to see them work with their colonies. Young people seem to be more calm around their bees than most adults. Once in awhile, I have even seen them pet their bees when they land on their gloves or arms.”
A retired 37-year school teacher, a 28-year beekeeper, and a 22-year 4-H beekeeping project leader, Ettamarie is a longtime member, a past president of the Sonoma County Beekeepers' Association (SCBA) and the current newsletter of SCBA's The Monthly Extractor.
Although the 4-H year runs from September to June, beekeeping is a year-around project. “It's a summer endeavor, too, so I do visits to their homes to check on their hives during the summer, of course.”
Teaching youths about bees comes naturally for the retired school teacher. She launched her 4-H beekeeping project in 2000 when her son Lew wanted his daughter, Kasey, “to take beekeeping because he wanted the local honey,” Ettamarie recalled. “Since I had been beekeeping since about 1994 or so they asked me to take on the project as leader. There was no other beekeeping project in the county at that time.” Today there are two in the county, and she generously supplies them with how-to literature.
Ettamarie doesn't follow a 4-H beekeeping manual. “I use an older manual, but to tell you the truth I have just used a bit of this and that together to run the meetings and give the young beekeepers a collection of worksheets that I have found useful,” she said. “For example, one page tells the life cycle and stages with days of the queen's, workers' and drones' eggs, larva and pupa. One page tells which days the workers do each job starting with cleaning house. One page describes diseases. One page shows all the hive parts.”
Of her current students, “two of the families are cousins and they have been in the project for three years. Their grandmother was my grandchildren's dairy project leader years ago so I feel like I am paying her back for all the years she helped them! She has gotten very interested in bees, too!”
One mother enrolled in a free online Pennsylvania State University beekeeping course the first year of the COVID pandemic lockdown. “She is great and has even helped catch one of her daughter's swarms!”
At every meeting, her 4-H'ers examine the bee activity in her observation hive. She also uses her own colonies to teach hive inspection, “and it is good for them to see the differences in each colony. Since I have experienced beekeepers every year, I am able to use them to demonstrate what to do. One of things I love about 4-H is that several older 4-H'ers can get teen leader experience and help the younger ones.”
“I think it is exciting to see young people get so involved with bees,” Ettamarie said. “Most of them stay in the project at least three years or more!”
What fascinates her about bees? "The bees are so fascinating because they work strictly by instinct and as one organism. They are so organized and teach us so much. I love watching how they approach various flowers, some they just land on, some they burrow down into and some they seem to nibble the part they can suck nectar from. I am also fascinated by how they have their favorite flowers. I say some flowers are equivalent to chocolate in my world! I have learned so much about flowers since I started keeping bees. They teach me to open my eyes and pay attention to the world! When my granddaughter and I started off on our trip to Italy this summer, she told me her mother warned her about me. My daughter told her grandma will stop at every flower to see if there is a bee on it and take a picture if she spots one! How well she knows me!"
In 2011, the Sonoma County 4-H Office presented her with the "Friend of 4-H Award" for her Liberty 4-H project leadership in beekeeping and her previous 4-H activities, including leader of sewing and poultry projects, when her children were enrolled in 4-H.
This year the Petaluma resident will be honored as the 2022 recipient of the Youth Ag and Leadership Foundation's 4-H Alumni Recognition Award for her many contributions to Sonoma County 4-H. The event takes place at a barbecue on Sept. 24 at a vineyard in Windsor “and I get a table for 8 at the barbecue!” she said. “My children and their spouses will fill the table!” Her three children are Karen Nau, a preschool teacher; Margie Hebert, a second-grade teacher, and Lew Peterson, an electrician and pilot.
The Petaluma Chamber of Commerce honored her several years ago but the COVID pandemic cancelled the ceremony. “I think I am getting a fat head with all of this recognition but I really love it! I taught for 37 years and didn't get this much appreciation!”
Ettamarie credits husband Ray with introducing her to agriculture. In the late 1960s he purchased 20 head of Angus cattle for their Potter Valley ranch. In 1972 the Petersons moved to their six-acre Petaluma farm, where they raise cows and chickens, grow vegetables, and keep bees. She currently maintains four bee colonies and an observation hive.
"My husband is not a beekeeper and loves to tell my friends beekeeping is addictive and there is a 12-step program to recovery!" Ettarmarie quipped. "He is all talk, of course! He really enjoys the honey and that I have something to keep me busy and happy, besides our six-acre farm and the huge family!"
"None of our children are beekeepers but our son, Lew, has had fun helping me catch swarms," she said. "His daughter, Jessie who is now an ag teacher at Tokay High School in Lodi, went to the Irish Beekeeping School one year and another granddaughter (now a special education teacher in the Santa Rosa School District) went with me another year. A side note about Jessie, she and her husband Lucas Chaves are buying the house in Lodi that is on property that my great-grandparents bought in 1900. The house on the property was built in 1948 by my grandfather for his sister and brother-in-law so I am very excited about that! It was a very small dairy farm originally and Jessie showed dairy cows in 4-H and FFA!"
Ettamarie says that "our California roots are very deep!" Her husband's family settled in Sonoma County in about 1850. "They were ranchers of course. Ray was born on his uncle's prune ranch in Healdsburg."
Always the teacher, Ettamarie takes her observation hive to school and other interested groups “to teach students and adults about bees.”
Beekeeping Manual. And the proposed California 4-H Beekeeping manual that she would love to work on? She would like it dedicated to the late Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist based in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Mussen freely gave of his time and expertise to beekeepers throughout California, not only during his 1976-2014 career but during his retirement. He died June 3, 2022 at age 78 under hospice care at the family home in Davis.
Ettamarie wrote in the current edition of The Monthly Extractor that although Eric Mussen retired in 2014, he “never really left his job at UC Davis…and was, always ready to answer our questions… We were fortunate to have him almost annually as a speaker at our meetings. His talks were always straight-forward and honest and laced with humor. I remember the year he told us about the new product to fight mites, Check Mite +. This was made with Coumaphos, an organophosphate pesticide that is highly toxic. He told us all the problems. I remember asking him if he would use it and he looked me right in the eyes and said, ‘No!' This is just one example of his integrity.”
They also recalled that Mussen was a co-founder (and six-term president) of the Western Apicultural Society (WAS). “He supported a diverse group of beekeepers and worked hard to give them a speaking platform and have some fun coming together during those yearly gatherings,” they related. ”We will always remember him as a brilliant beekeeping teacher who educated so many of us.”
Pro-Bee. Mussen considered himself “pro-bee,” from helping a 4-H'er with a single colony to large scale commercial operations.
The Mussen family suggests memorial contributions be made to the California State 4-H Beekeeping Program, with a note, "Eric Mussen Memorial Fund." Checks may be made out to the California 4-H Foundation and mailed to:
California 4-H Foundation
Attn: Development Services (Eric Mussen Memorial Fund, California State 4-H Beekeeping Program)
2801 Second Street
Davis, CA 95618
Or, online donations may be made to the California State 4-H Beekeeping Program by accessing the main donor page at https//bit.ly/3RUqHFC and then clicking on the drop-down menu to "Beekeeping Program Scholarship."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In celebrating the California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, visitors at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house learned about the biology and history of the insect, engaged in arts and crafts, and enjoyed two specially decorated sheet cakes, one featuring the male dogface butterfly and the other, the female.
The occasion: the 50th anniversary of the year that the California State Legislature designated the California dogface butterfly as the state insect. Most attending the open house have never seen the butterfly in the wild.
The dogface butterfly, found only in California, thrives at its major breeding ground, the Shutamul Bear River Preserve in Auburn, a private preserve maintained by the Placer Land Trust (PLT). It's there because its host plant, false indigo, Amorpha californica, is there--amid the steep canyons, wildflowers poison oak and other vegetation.
Kareofelas, who has reared multiple dogface butterflies from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, showed a PowerPoint of images he captured of the life cycle and discussed the history and biology of the butterfly. He serves as a volunteer docent for PLT.
Communications specialist Julia Boorinakis Harper Barbeau of Placer Land Trust narrated a video and staffed a table with fellow PLT'ers Carole Gan and CollinHobb. Among others participating was naturalist and PLT docent volunteer Deren Ross, credited with finding the first dogface butterfly at the Shutamul Bear River Preserve. (See PLT news story)
UC Davis students and Bohart volunteers Danielle Sion and Amberly Hackmann encouraged the guests to make yellow felt butterflies, ornaments for their shoes, hair, belt and wrists. Guests also crafted caterpillar puppets. A stick insect at the Bohart Museum petting zoo, took the opportunity to walk on one of the caterpillar puppets.
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection, showed specimens, including dogface butterfly, monarch, morpho and viceroy specimens, and answered questions.
Meanwhile, entomologist and Bohart lab assistant Brennen Dyer staffed the gift shop. A budding entomologist named Chip, 2, of Woodland, showed off his newly purchased bug habitat cage and some toy critters.
The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also maintains a live petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop (including T-shirts, hoodies, books, jewelry, posters, collecting equipment).
The next Bohart Museum open house will be the annual Moth Night, held in observance of National Moth Week. The open house will be both indoor and outdoor from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, July 30. The event is free and family friendly, and visitors are encouraged to explore the world of moths in the Bohart's research collection and to see what lands on backlighting display: a hanging white sheet, illuminated by ultraviolet (UV) light and powered by a generator. The backlighting display will be a short, walking distance from the museum.
This summer the Bohart Museum is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., but groups must make reservations and all must follow the UC Davis visitor guidelines: https://campusready.ucdavis.edu/visitors?.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Land of Z? It's the home or major breeding ground of Zerene eurydice, the California dogface butterfly, the state insect. Where is this major breeding ground: At the 40-acre Shutamul Bear River Preserve, Auburn, maintained by Placer Land Trust (PLT).
The Land of B? That's the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis, the venue for an open house showcasing the California dogface butterfly. The free and family friendly event will take place July 16 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 555 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. The crowd will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the year that the California State Legislature designated the dogface butterfly as the state insect.
Officials from both Placer Land Trust and the Bohart Museum will be at the open house to answer questions and provide information about the biology and history of the state insect. There also will be a family arts-and-craft activity.
To prepare for the open house and to gain more scientific knowledge, a Bohart Museum crew toured the "Land of Z" on June 10 (in 100-degree heat) and saw an estimated 75 to 100 dogface butterflies.
"Most people have never seen a single dogface butterfly in the wild, let alone 75 to 100 in one day," said Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas, a Davis-based naturalist who studies the insect and leads volunteer PLT tours. He has reared multiple California dogface butterflies, from egg, to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, and will show the macro images at the open house.
Ross, a self-described naturalist, birdwatcher and "a practicing amateur lepidopterist," learned of the host plant's presence in 2005. If the host plant is there, he figured, the butterfly must be there, too.
Ross visited the site in the fall of 2008 but found only leafless twigs. Further investigation revealed that the "leafless twigs" were, in fact, false indigo, "and it was so abundant on the preserve he was sure the butterfly would be present as well," according to an article on the PLT website. "Ross visited the Shutamul Preserve only once a year for the next two years and during those visits was able to see many dogface butterflies. He later learned from Professor Art Shapiro at UC Davis that the life history of the dogface butterfly was not well understood, especially for the over-wintering adults. Ross saw this as a great opportunity to conduct a scientific study to document the life-cycle of this butterfly."
Found only in California, the rarely seen butterfly is also known as (1) "the flying pansy," referring to the male's spectacular black and yellow coloring, and (2) as a "dog head" butterfly (the markings on the male resemble a silhouette of a dog's head). The female is mostly solid yellow.The dogface butterfly is so named because the wings of the male appear to be a silhouette of a poodle.
Its range spans from San Diego County to Sonoma County, and it is usually found in mountain and foothill locations, according to PLT. UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro of the Department of Evolution and Ecology has recorded multiple sightings of the high-flying butterflies in Gates Canyon in Vacaville in his 50 years of monitoring butterflies in Central California. He has also seen it in his driveway in Davis. But, as Shapiro told us today, "I doubt if I have seen 100 in my entire life." (See his information on Zerene on his research site, Art's Butterfly World.)
- 2005: The Placer Land Trust acquired the 40-acre property from a willing seller.
- 2005/2006: California Native Plant Society reported false indigo at the Shutamul Bear River Preserve.
- 2007-2008: Deren Ross (accompanied by a PLT crew) discovered the California dogface butterfly there.
- 2011: Butterfly surveys and invitations to folks with an interest in plants and entomology began.
The PLT website reports: "In June 2011, Ross began going out to the Shutamul Preserve weekly to conduct male/female butterfly counts and behavior patterns. It proved to be a very exciting study; eggs were observed being laid on the False Indigo and then caterpillars got busy munching away at the plant. Previous research indicates the butterfly has two broods per year: one brood from April to July (adult life-span 3-4 months) and a second in August to October (adult life-span 6-8 months). The adults from the last brood overwinter in a state of hibernation until emerging again in early spring and mating."
Ross discovered a dogface in "near mint condition" on March 8, 2012. Now he and Kareofelas are investigating whether the dogface overwinters as a chrysalis.
The UC Davis crew on the trip included Tom Zavortink, Bohart research associate and entomologist; Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, a Bohart scientist; Bohart senior museum scientist Steve Heydon, curator and collections manager; Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas; Bohart lab assistant Brennen Dyer; Tabatha Yang, Bohart education and outreach coordinator; and Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, Department of Entomology and Nematology. UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart, which includes a global collection of eight million insect specimens, was unable to attend.
History
California legislators adopted the dogface butterfly as the official state insect on July 28, 1972. But as early as 1929, entomologists had already singled it out as their choice for state insect. Their suggestion appears in the California Blue Book, published by the State Legislature in 1929.(Read more on how the butterfly became the state insect under the Ronald Reagan administration.) In 1972, fourth grade students of Betty Harding and Shirley Klein in the Dailey Elementary School, Fresno, advocated that the butterfly be the state insect. The teachers and students enlisted the help of State Assemblyman Kenneth L. Maddy, who authored AB 1834.
In 2013, Fran Keller, then a doctoral student in entomology at UC Davis, published a 35-page children's book, The Story of the Dogface Butterfly that includes photos by Kareofelas and Keller, and illustrations by then UC Davis student Laine Bauer. The book tells the untold story of the California dogface butterfly, and how the Fresno schoolchildren became involved in convincing the State Legislature to select the butterfly as the state insect. Both the book and a Keller-Kareofelas poster of the male and female butterfly are available for sale in the gift shop at the Bohart Museum.
In 2017 Kareofelas led a tour for the KVIE "Rob on the Road" TV program. It is online at http://vids.kvie.org/video/3002661342/
Although most people have never seen the California dogface butterfly in the wild, they may have noticed a tiny image of the insect on California driver licenses. It also appears on first-class stamps, on the California State Fair monorail, and on a wine label.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Dr. Mussen, known as "Eric," died Friday, June 3 of liver cancer at age 78.
Family, friends, colleagues and associates are RSVP'ing at https://
Eric joined the UC Davis entomology department on July 1, 1976. Although he retired in 2014, he continued his many activities until a few weeks prior to his death. For nearly four decades, he drew praise as “the honey bee guru,” “the pulse of the bee industry" and as "the go-to person" when consumers, scientists, researchers, students, and the news media sought answers about honey bees.
Born May 12, 1944 in Schenectady, N.Y., Eric received his bachelor's degree in entomology from the University of Massachusetts (after declining an offer to play football at Harvard) and then obtained his master's degree and doctorate in entomology from the University of Minnesota in 1969 and 1975, respectively. Mussen credits his grandfather with sparking his interest in insects. His grandfather, a self-taught naturalist, would take his young grandson to the woods to point out flora and fauna.
Bees became his life, and Eric thoroughly enjoyed his career. For nearly four decades, he wrote and published the bimonthly newsletter, from the UC Apiaries, and short, topical articles called Bee Briefs, providing beekeepers with practical information on all aspects of beekeeping. His research focused on managing honey bees and wild bees for maximum field production, while minimizing pesticide damage to pollinator populations.
Gene Brandi, the 2018 president of the American Beekeeping Federation, remembers presenting him with the prestigious Founders' Award from the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees at the 75th annual American Beekeeping Federation conference in Reno in 2018. "Eric received a well-deserved rousing standing ovation!” said Brandi, extolling him as "an outstanding liaison between the academic world of apiculture and real-world beekeeping and crop pollination."
"Eric was a legend in the beekeeping world who was always willing to go the extra mile to help beekeepers and bee industry organizations deal with issues pertaining to honey bee health, regulations, and various threats to the industry," Brandi said. "He also helped agricultural organizations, government officials, and the general public better understand the value of honey bees to the world. Eric was a great advocate for the honey bee and beekeepers. He was truly a national treasure.
"Eric served on the California State Beekeepers Association Board of Directors for 39 years as apiculturist, but he also was the parliamentarian for many years, and due to his long tenure, was quite the historian as well," Brandi added. "He co-founded the Western Apicultural Society and served as president for six terms. He founded the American Association of Professional Apiculturists and was either president of secretary/treasurer for the first ten years."
"In addition to his work with the aforementioned organizations, Eric was the UC Honey Bee Liaison to California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Department of Pesticide Regulation, EPA, California Farm Bureau Federation, Almond Board of California, National Honey Board, California Bee Breeders' Association, and others. Eric was always willing to help the beekeeping industry by testifying at hearings or writing letters to support the bee industry on various issues. He received many awards from a number of organizations, but the ones with which I am most familiar are the California State Beekeepers Association Distinguished Service Award as well as the Beekeeper of the Year Award. The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees honored Eric in 2018 with the coveted Founders; Award.
Brandi related that "Eric also conducted a number of research projects over the years including research on sacbrood virus, effects of medfly sprays on honey bees, effects of antibiotics of honey bee brood, potential of Neem as a varroa control, effects of selected fungicides on honey bee brood, effects of antibiotics, and effects of high-fructose corn syrup on packaged bee development. Eric's "From the UC Apiaries" newsletter was a renowned publication which contained valuable information about current events in the beekeeping world which beekeepers needed to know. There is so much more that can be said about Eric and his many contributions to the beekeeping world."
When Mussen was nominated (and received) the 2013-14 Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Extension from the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), MacArthur Genus Awardee Professor Marla Spivak, Distinguished McKnight University Professor Apiculture/Social Insects at the University of Minnesota, wrote: "Without question, Eric is the No. 1 Extension person dealing with honey bees in the nation, if not the world. Research colleagues, beekeepers and the public are all very lucky to have him.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"But this weekend some of the country's top experts on arachnids — the group that includes not just spiders but scorpions, mites and ticks, among others — will be in Davis to help demystify the amazing creatures, and even name a new species."
So begins a news story posted today on the Capital Public Radio website by Chris Hagan, managing editor, Digital Content for CapRadio. Senior news producer Drew Sandsor interviewed UC Davis arachnologist Jason Bond, who is co-chairing the American Arachnological Society annual meeting, set June 26-30 at UC Davis. (Listen to the interview here and read the text.)
Bond is the associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
AAS will kick off the UC Davis conference by co-hosting an open house, "Eight-Legged Encounters," with the Bohart Museum of Entomology. The event takes place from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, June 25 in the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It's free, family friendly, and open to the public.
Some 20 exhibits and hands-on activities--educational and entertaining--will be set up in the hallway of the Academic Surge Building. “There will be everything--spider specimens, live arachnids, activities, artwork, etc., at the open house," said Bond, adding that a powerhouse of the nation's arachnologists will participate.
Students 18 and under will be invited to name a newly discovered trapdoor spider species from the genus Promyrmekiaphila. Conference co-host and postdoctoral research associate Lisa Chamberland is coordinating the spider-species naming project with second-year doctoral student Emma Jochim of the Bond lab and incoming doctoral student Iris Bright.
In addition to the open house, AAS has scheduled a series of arachnid lectures, free and open to the public, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, in the newly constructed 600-seat lecture hall, California Hall.
In the meantime, listen to Sandsor's interview with Jason Bond. You'll learn more about why spiders are essential to the ecosystem, why they are spectacular, and what spiders he likes best.
What's your favorite spider? And have you ever photographed them?
