Ettamarie Peterson, fondly known as "The Queen Bee of Sonoma County," will be displaying a bee observation hive at the Vacaville Museum Guild's Children's Party on Thursday, Aug. 8 but the life of a queen bee is not for her.

"I have decided I do not want to be the queen bee because she never ever gets to smell the flowers!" the Petaluma resident said. "I would much rather be a worker bee! The queen bee has a short life which I have already avoided, of course, and plan on many more years in the garden."

Ettamarie, in her eighth decade, is a retired teacher who taught school for 37 years, has kept bees for 30 years, and has volunteered as the leader of a 4-H beekeeping project for the past 25 years. 

A worker bee, she is!

The Vacaville Museum Children's Party, open to Vacaville children between the ages of 3 and 9, will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the museum courtyard at 213 Buck Ave., Vacaville. Tickets, limited to 250, are $3 for children (same price for adults accompanying them). Tickets must be purchased at the museum on Thursdays through Saturdays between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. 

Coordinators Pamela King and Diana McLaughlin said the event, themed "Fun on the Farm," will include Grange animals (including goats, rabbits, chickens and a donkey), a walk-around Mother Goose, face-painting, and a ring toss with a hobby horse named Trigger (the work of Peter Shull and Georganne Gebers), Among the many other activities, the youngsters will create sand art jars, craft paper crowns, plant seeds in a take-home container, and pose for photos behind a Bohart Museum of Entomology dogface butterfly cutout banner.  Lunch, on the house, will include hog dogs, popcorn, chips, cookies and water.

But back to Ettamarie Peterson. 

“I started beekeeping before I retired in 1998 from 37 years of teaching,” she said.  “My teaching career was mostly in special education, following a few years teaching second and first grade. I became one of the first resource teachers in California back in 1980 after getting my master's degree in special education."

Active in the beekeeping industry, Ettamarie has served as president and treasurer of Sonoma County Beekeepers' Association (SCBA) "for many years" and edits the  SCBA newsletter, The Monthly Extractor. 

She loves "talking bees." She shows her glassed-in bee observation hive at schools and other venues. She collects swarms for her Liberty 4-H Club beekeepers. "I got involved in 4-H when my son wanted his daughters to learn how to keep bees,” she recalled.  “They are both parents now so I am hoping to teach the three great-grandsons, too!" 

Her interests also include bee photography, raising chickens, growing vegetables. and planting flowers “for the bees and butterflies. My granddaughter and I have a special garden in front of my house for bees and butterflies."

Ettamarie is also a longtime friend and supporter of UC Davis. She delivered a tribute to the late Eric Mussen (1946-2022), a 38-year California Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty.

She and her husband, Ray (a non-beekeeper), enjoy life on the Peterson Ranch. "We've been married for 65 years and have 3 children, 9 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren! What a wonderful life I have!” 

Just don't call her a queen bee, please. She'd rather be a worker bee!

It just wouldn't be a picnic without bugs.

Briggs Hall, home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will turn into a bugfest during the 105th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 13.

Think cockroach races, maggot art, and bee and ant displays,  to name a few.

The Briggs Hall activities will take place from 9 a.m. to around 4:30 p.m., announced co-chairs Robert Kimsey, forensic entomologist, and Brendon Boudinot, president of the Entomology Graduate Student Association and a doctoral student in Professor Phil Ward's ant lab. Picnic Day is free and family friendly.

For the cockroach races, participants can pick their favorite "roach athlete" and cheer it to victory. These are husky American roaches.

For maggot art, participants will dip a maggot into water-based, non-toxic paint and position it on paper and let it crawl. Voila! Maggot art, suitable for framing.

Bees? There will be a bee observation hive from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. And there's the ever-popular honey tasting, at which visitors can sample varietals of honey. The honey tasting event has been nominated for a people's choice UC Davis Picnic Award.

Ants? Graduate students from Professor Phil Ward's lab will talk to visitors about the amazing world of ants. (Ants enjoy picnics, too!)

Among the other scheduled events at Briggs Hall:

• Bug Doctor: The Doctor Is In: Graduate students will identify insects and arachnids and answer questions
• Virtual Reality Bugs: Medical entomologist Geoffrey Attardo will set up a virtual reality system to enable people to view three dimensional models of insects. In VR, the models can be made to look life size, 40 feet tall or anywhere in between, he says. Here's the link that to view them in your web browser: https://skfb.ly/6xVru
• IPM Booth:  UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program professionals will discuss and answer questions about insect pests, beneficial insects and pest control. They will display their publications and live insects. In keeping with tradition, they will give away free lady beetles (lady bugs), to be released in gardens to devour aphids and other soft-bodied insects.
• Mosquito Abatement:  Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District professionals will staff a booth
• Dr. Death: Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will staff his traditional Dr. Death booth, inviting the visitors to ask questions and look through microscopes.
• Davis Fly Fishers: The anglers will demonstrate fly-tying techniques in Briggs 158
• Aquatic Insects: Professor Sharon Lawler's lab will display a number of aquatic insects.
• Scavenger Hunt: Participants will search for and identify insects. 
• Insect Face Painting: Entomology Club members will face-paint bees, butterflies, lady beetles and other insects
• T-Shirt Sales: Visitors can take their pick or picks among insect-themed t-shirts (popular t-shirts include beetles and honey bees) Selection and prices are online at https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad/ 
• Bake Sale: The Entomology Club will offer insect-themed baked goods.

Bohart Museum of Entomology. Meanwhile, over at the Bohart Museum of Entomology (Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane), activities will abound from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme is "Will Travel for Bugs: The Bohart Museum of Entomology's Collections From Around the World."  Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator, said that "At the Bohart, we are focusing on the various countries from around the world and some of their insect fauna." The 12 countries that the Bohart is highlighting are Australia, Belize, Democratic Republic of Congo, Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Republic of South Africa, Turkey and the United States. The museum houses nearly eight million insect specimens, a gift shop and a live "petting zoo."  Visitors will be invited to "vote for the Bohart"  for a people's choice award. (See more on yesterday's Bug Squad for highlights.)

A QR code, linked to the voting survey, will be displayed at Briggs Hall and the Bohart Museum. Or folks can vote here from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. April 13.

Theme of the UC Davis Picnic Day celebration is "Adventure Awaits."

Insects (compliments of the UC Davis Department of Entommology and Nematology), await, too.

"All the buzz" in England is the birth of a new member of the royal family, Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge. Born last Saturday in London, she will be known as Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, officials at Kensington Palace announced.  She is fourth in line for the throne.

But over at the 140th annual Dixon May Fair (May 7-May 10), you'll see another kind of buzz, another kind of palace and another kind of royalty.

The Buzzingham Palace will be buzzing. It's a bee observation hive belonging to the Honey and Pollination Center, UC Davis. Looking through the glass, fairgoers can observe a colony in action--the queen laying eggs, worker bees (females) tending to her every need and the needs of the colony, including the drones (males).

The bee observation hive is a product from Mann Lake, Woodland, said.Amina Harris, who directs the Honey and Pollination Center. The bees were donated by Ray Olivarez of Olivarez Honey Bees, Orland.

Staff research associate Billy Synk of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is tending the bees in the Buzzingham Palace.

The observation hive will be showcased inside a booth in the Southard Floriculture Building along with posters, photos and scientific information about bees from the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Entomologists and graduate students from UC Davis will staff the booth. Among them will be entomologist Jeff Smith, an associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, who will talk about insects and spiders. Fairgoers can hold Peaches, a rose-haired tarantula; walking sticks, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

Want to see Buzzingham Palace, hold Peaches and talk to the entomologists?

The fairgrounds are  located at 655 S. First St., Dixon. The Dixon May Fair is the oldest district fair and fairgrounds in the state of California, according to chief executive officer Patricia "Pat" Conklin. It's filled with many agricultural-related exhibits in keeping with the theme, "Nuttin' But Fun."  (Think walnuts and almonds, two of the major agricultural industries in the county.)

Fair hours are:
Thursday, May 7: 4 to 11 p.m.
Friday, May 8: Noon to 11 p.m.
Saturday, May 9: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sunday, May 10: Noon to 11 p.m.

For more information check out Dixon May Fair's "Fair at a Glance."

Meanwhile, the Buzzingham Palace is buzzing!

It was all the buzz.

Visitors at the annual California Agriculture Day, held Wednesday, March 18 on the west lawn of the State Capitol, made a beeline to the California State Beekeepers' Asssociation (CSBA) booth to see the bees, pocket some honey sticks and talk bees.

Staffing the booth were five beekeepers and Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who retired last June after 38 years of service, fielded lots of questions.

Bill Cervenka of Bill Cervenka Apariies, Half Moon Bay, provided a bee observation hive. Carlin Jupe of Sacramento, secretary-treasurer of the CSBA, brought along 2000 Honey Stix containing wildflower honey,  ordered from Nature's Kick, Salem, Ore.

Each honey stick contained a CSBA message:

• Honey bees are the backbone of agriculture
• They pollinate 1/3 of the human diet
• They pollinate 50 varied U.S. crops worth more than $20 billion
• They pollinate California's $2.5 billion almond production
• They produce $150 million in U.S. honey and beeswax

Assisting throughout the morning were beekeepers Bob Sugar, Wendy Mather and Claudia Parrish. Mather, of El Dorado,  is with the NOD Apiary Products; Sugar belongs to several beekeeping associations, including CSBA, the Sacramento Area Beekeepers' Association (SABA), Nevada County Beekeepers, and the Western Apicultural Society, while Parrish serves as vice president of the Delta Bee Club.

"I spent quite a bit of time on  'How do I keep bees in a thirty-third floor apartment with no balcony?'" Mussen related. "I sent a number of people to the Sacramento Beekeeping Supply store to find an opening in beginning beekeeping courses.  I spent time explaining the bee space and how to keep purchasing wooden ware from the same supplier, so the space would not be violated."

Folks also wanted to know how the drought is impacting the bees. State Senator Jim Nielsen "wanted to know that he kicked up enough of a fuss to get agriculture a place at the water conference table.  Up until then, no ag reps were desired."

Eight-year-old Sam Blincoe of Sacramento took a special interest in the bee observation hive, as Mather explained what the bee colony is all about. "He's going to become a beekeeper," she predicted.

 "Breaking New Ground" set the theme for Cal Ag Day. Explained Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross: 'Growing our food supply takes seed and water,  labor and treatment, and a host of other ingredients that all come together at harvest time. But when you get right down to it, our soils are the foundation of California's agricultural abundance. That's why this year's Ag Day event features information about our farmers and ranchers' efforts to preserve, restore and protect the health of this most bsic and most important source."

The theme, she added, "also reflects the United Nations' declaration of 2015 as the International Year of Soils to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions."

She concluded: "Our legislative representatives here in Sacramento recognize the importance of farming in the Golden State, and they also recognize farmers' responsibility to be good stewards of the natural resources under their care. Today is our representatives' chance to shake a farmer's hand and advance our shared understanding of the importance of our food supply. This day is also an opportunity for the public, especially our youth, to meet a farmer, try on a cowboy hat, and learn how California's soil and other natural resources are combined with creativity, technology, ingenuity and determination to produce more than 400 crops and commodities."

Meanwhile, California Farm Bureau Foundation president Paul Wenger issued this statement today, the first day of spring: "On this first day of spring, we celebrate the agricultural bounty of our nation and especially of California, where a unique combination of climate, soils, water and know-how allows farmers and ranchers to harvest food and farm products every day of the year. While parts of our nation continue to shiver in cold and snow, California provides, thanks to one of only five Mediterranean climates in the world. As we celebrate this bounty, we must also resolve to assure we can sustain it. As California suffers through another year of drought, we must pay particular attention to our state's ability to manage the rain and snow that does fall each winter, to sustain us through dry times. Farm Bureau will continue to press our leaders, at the local, state and national levels, to assure sustainable food production by building new water storage and better managing the entire water system, to ensure California remains the No. 1 agricultural state in the nation."