- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Two open houses on Saturday, Sept. 22 have differing hours so you can attend both!
- The Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee garden operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will host an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus
- The Bohart Museum of Entomology, home of nearly eight million insect specimens, will host an open house, themed "Crafty Insects," from 1 to 4 p.m. at its headquarters in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane.
Both are free and family friendly. This weekend is also "move-in" weekend for UC Davis students, so students, their families and friends will be getting acquainted with the campus--and many may visit the bee garden and the insect museum.
Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
Activities at the garden, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, west of the central campus, will include the popular catch-and-release bee activity; a sale of plants and bee condos (for leafcutter bees and mason bees), and a display of pollinator images by Allan Jones of Davis, according to Christine Casey, academic program manager.
A six-foot long mosaic and ceramic sculpture of a worker bee, the work of self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick, anchors the garden. The UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, founded and directed by the duo of entomologist/artist Diane Ullman, professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and Billick, coordinated the art in the garden through their classes.
The garden, planted in the fall of 2009 and directed by Extension apiculturist Elina L. Niño. was founded and "came to life" during the term of interim department chair, Professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, who coordinated the entire project. A Sausalito team--landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki--winners of an international competition, designed the garden.
The garden is open to the public--no admission--from dawn to dusk. See more information on the haven website.
Bohart Museum of Entomology
Visitors are invited to display insect-themed crafts they've made and/or are "finds."
“We are hoping to have two parallel exhibits--one where we show crafty insects and then one where we are asking people to bring insect-themed crafts from their home--a plate with a cicada on it, or mug shaped like a wasp or we have a bee-shaped stapler for example,” said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator. “We'll have a place for them to display their crafts.”
“Crafty insects can be interpreted in two ways,” Yang commented. ‘Crafty' can be makers such as caddis fly larvae, case bearer moths, and potter wasps. The other crafty interpretation is sneaky, so our live orchid mantid, the dead leaf butterfly like Kallima inachus will be on display.” Activities are to include “spot the flower fly versus bee activity” and “spot the assassin fly versus bumblebee activity.”
For the family crafts activity, visitors will be painting rocks (think insects!) that can be hidden on campus or elsewhere or taken home. This activity is based on UC Davis Rocks,the brainchild of Kim Pearson and Martha Garrison of the College of Letters and Science.
Bohart associates Jeff Smith, curator of the butterfly and moth exhibit and naturalist-photographer Greg Kareofelas will be on hand to shows the collection. UC Davis student Lohit Garikipati will display some of his praying mantids, including orchids.
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It is also the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. In addition to the petting zoo, the museum features a year-around gift shop, which is stocked with T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. It is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free. More information on the Bohart Museum is available on the website or by contacting (530) 752-0493 or emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Mark your calendar!
You won't want to miss the summer weekend open houses at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane. Both are free, open to the public and family friendly.
The first one is themed "Fire and Ice: Extreme California Insects" and will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 19. "We will be exploring extreme insects from the deserts and the mountains of California," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.
The last one of summer is "Crafty Insects," from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22. "We will be having a two-way museum,
Yang said. "We will be displaying crafty--think cunning--insects and we are going to ask people to bring insect crafts that they have made, so all those folks who do felted, knitted, carved, sculpted crafters can share. Any and all hand-made, flea-shaped tea cozies are welcomed!"
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It is also the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. In addition to the petting zoo, the museum features a year-around gift shop, which is stocked with T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. It is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information on the Bohart Museum is available on the website or by contacting (530) 752-0493 or emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
Additional Information:
Extreme Insects
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and Tabatha Yang, public education and outreach coordinator, have just announced the schedule for the special weekend hours for the academic year.
The museum, world-renowned for its global collection of some eight million insects, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis.
Admission? Free. Parking? Free. It doesn't get any better than that! Visitors find it both educational and entertaining.
The schedule:
- Sunday, Sept. 18, 1 to 4 p.m.: “UnBelize-able Expedition: Collecting Tropical Insects” (summer collection trip led by Bohart associate/entomologist Fran Keller, assistant professor of biology, Folsom Lake College, and Dave Wyatt, professor of biology at Sacramento City College)
- Saturday, Nov. 19: 1 to 4 p.m.: “Uninvited Guests: Common Pests Found in the Home”
- Sunday, Jan. 22: 1 to 4 p.m.: “Parasite Palooza: Botflies, Fleas and Mites, Oh, My”
- Saturday, Feb. 18: (varying times throughout campus): Biodiversity Museum Day, an opportunity to explore 11 UC Davis collections
- Sunday, March 19: 1 to 4 p.m.: “Eggs to Wings: Backyard Butterfly Gardening”
- Saturday, April 22: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: “”UC Davis Picnic Day”
The Bohart Museum also maintains a live “petting zoo,” featuring walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and tarantulas. Current residents also include Gulf Fritillary caterpillars and chrysalids (soon to be butterflies), and a female juvenile praying mantis. A gift shop, open year around, includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information on the Bohart Museum is available by contacting (530) 752-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu. The website is http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/
Here's a look--in pictures--at some of the educational and fun activities at the last open house, held July 30. Visitors learned about moths and other insects (it featured National Moth Night), met the scientists one-on-one, engaged in family activities, and checked out the collections.
And, oh, yes, you can take selfies with such critters as a rose-haired tarantula and a walking stick!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The UC Davis-based Bohart Museum of Entomology, home of nearly eight million insect specimens, is a good place to start.
Last Sunday two little 18-month-old girls intently watched an observation bee hive, much as their older counterparts would gaze at a computer screen.
The hive, an educational tool, was from the nearby Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.
The toddlers quickly spotted the queen bee, the one with a red dot on her thorax. They watched the worker bees tend to her every need. They watched the nurse bees feed the brood, and undertaker bees carry off their dead.
With ears pressed closely to the hive, they listened to "The Buzz."
Tilly Matern of Woodland and Vivienne Statham of Davis knew what was making the buzz.
"Bees," said Tilly. Then she looked at a painted bug on the floor and identified another insect. "Ant," she said.
The occasion: the Bohart Museum's open house, themed "Insect Societies."
It doesn't appear that they will develop entomophobia (fear of insects) or apiphobia (fear of bees) or myrmecophobia (fear of ants) any time soon.
Start 'em while they're young and who knows--maybe they'll become entomologists!
Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, serves as the director of the Bohart Museum, located at 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane (formerly California Drive. The insect museum includes a live "petting zoo," complete with Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and a rose-haired tarantula. There's also a gift shop filled with t-shirts, sweat shirts, posters, jewelry, insect nets and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum has scheduled its next weekend open house (free and open to the public) for Saturday, Dec. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. The theme: "Insects in Art." Check the schedule for the remaining open houses for the 2012-2013 academic year.
Although special weekend open houses are held once a month, visitors can tour the museum from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Insects and Halloween just seem to go together.
What would Halloween be like without costumes depicting honey bees, ladybugs, butterflies, bumble bees, and just plain bugs?
And maybe a few termites, roaches, bed bugs and stink bugs tossed in for good measure?
The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, annually hosts two pre-Halloween open houses. One, sponsored by the Bohart Museum Society, is for donors, Entomology Department affiliates, and other invited guests. The other, hosted by the museum itself, is open to all as part of its education, teaching and public service mission.
Spiders--although not insects--are wildly popular at these functions. Spider decorations dangle from the ceiling and painted images adorn faces.
Among the most interesting "bug" costumes showing up at the Bohart last week: a monarch butterfly outfit donned by Maia Lundy of Davis Senior High School, an intern at the Bohart; and a black widow spider costume worn by Tabatha Yang, the museum's outreach and education coordinator. Tabatha and her husband, Louie Yang, assistant professor of entomology at UC Davis, are expecting their first child.
Kara Handy of Davis dressed as a witch, and a beautiful witch at that, with a stunning spider web accenting one eye.
Another guest, carrying an insect net, creatively presented herself as a pinned specimen. (Back in 2010, graduate student Matan Shelomi dressed as Billy the Exterminator.)
The Bohart Museum, located at 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane (formerly California Drive) will be open for more weekend open houses during the 2012-2013 academic year. These open houses are free and open to the public.
The schedule includes:
Sunday, Nov. 18, 1 to 4 p.m. Theme: "Insect Societies"
Saturday, Dec. 15, 1 to p.m. Theme: "Insects in Art"
Sunday, Jan. 13, 1 to 4 p.m. Theme: "Extreme Insects"
Saturday, Feb. 2, 1 to 4 p.m. Theme: "Biodiversity Museum Day"
Sunday, March 24, 1 to 4 p.m. Theme: "Aquatic Insects"
Saturday, April 20 (10 a.m. to 3 p.m., UC Davis Picnic Day)
Saturday, May 11, 1 to 4 p.m. Theme: "Moth-er's Day"
Sunday, June 9, 1 to 4 p.m. Theme: "How to Find Insects"
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses a global collection of nearly eight million insect specimens and is the seventh largest insect collection in North America. It is also the home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum in 1946.
The insect museum includes a gift shop and a live "petting zoo," complete with Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and a rose-haired tarantula that you can hold and photograph.
The Bohart’s regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
