- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
There's a good reason why.
Shapiro has monitored the butterfly populations of central California since 1972 and maintains a research site at https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu. "I began doing the 4th of July butterfly count in 1978 and have done it every year since--always on the actual Fourth," he emailed his "posse" today.
"As I read the models, the first week of July this year will be at or near record heat every day," Shapiro wrote. "The maximum should be 108 or 109 on Wednesday, and Thursday the 4th about 106 here (Davis, Calif.)"
"As most of you know, under such heat butterflies go into heat-avoidance mode," he pointed out. "Any data generated after the T (temperature) reaches 100F are suspect. Does anyone record butterfly diversity when things are known to not be flying?"
Shapiro quipped that he knows his limits "and I am not going to push them, even with a supply of intravenous Gatorade. If I do the Willow Slough count it will be after the T retreats to a civilized level, which may not be until about the 9th or 10th."
"At any rate, don't expect a report on Thursday."
Note: You may know Shapiro not only for his incredible butterfly population data, but also for the "Beer for a Butterfly" contest he hosts every year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano. The first person to net the first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, and win the contest receives a pitcher of beer or its equivalent. It's all part of his scientific research. P. rapae is emerging earlier and earlier as the regional climate has warmed, Shapiro says. (See Bug Squad post)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's not just two-legged humans that take a dip in the pool.
So do six-legged honey bees searching for water.
When temperatures soar, honey bees scramble to collect water for their colony. They release droplets of water in the hive as their hardworking sisters fan their wings to "cool it." This airconditioning system works much like a swamp or evaporative cooler.
Usually honey bees seek water from bird baths, fish ponds, streams, fountains, dripping faucets, freshly watered potted plants or sprinkling systems--and sometimes even Uncle John's wet laundry dripping from the clothesline.
Unfortunately, however, bees inadvertently seek another source: swimming pools. They seem to have no depth perception.
Last weekend, scores of bees plopped into our pool. We netted the struggling bees one by one.
One small step...one giant leap...
Almost all of the Apis mellifera we fished out of the pool were Italian--the common amber-colored honey bee that we’re all accustomed to seeing. But one was a Carnolian, a dark honey bee.
The Carnolian looked quite ragged, observed UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, who rears New World Carniolans.
This bee certainly didn't look like a well-groomed bee fresh out of the bee-ty parlor.
To avoid wayward bees, it's a good idea to cover your pool when you're not using it. You can also provide a nearby bee friendly watering device so they'll go there instead of your pool. .
When bees deliver water to the hive, the other bees recognize the source by its scent, said Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty.
"They can tell its origin, where that water came from," he said.
All the more reason to provide a better watering hole.
