Hear that buzz? See those bees? Taste that honey? 

A newly emerged worker bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The festival, launched in 2017--and by co-founder Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute--aims to inspire "people of all ages to protect and celebrate bees and other pollinators." Admission is free.

"UC Davis will have a slimmed down version this year," said Harris. Some of the events on tap Saturday: 

• The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center will showcase its honey tasting wheel and offer free honey tasting.
• The California Master Beekeeper Program will staff two educational booths. Visitors can examine a bee observation hive, check out the beekeeping equipment and peer through microscopes. Kids' activities are also planned. 
• The Bohart Museum of Entomology of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematolgoy will showcase bee diversity in its specimen drawers. Its live "petting zoo" will include Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks) that folks can hold,  said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.
• The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden will address pollinator needs and gardening.
• The Woodland Public Library will offer a children's reading hour.
• Uncle Jer's Traveling Bee Show will provide educational performances.
• The UC Davis Bookstores booth will contain honey, books, and other gifts for sale.
• Visitors can don a bee costume and get their picture taken in the UC Davis Pollination Park, a collaboration with the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. 

Harris said the festival will include live music, a beer and mead garden. Some 100 vendors will sell everything from food to plants to arts and crafts.  The first festival drew some 30,000 visitors.

An after-party is planned at The Hive, part of Z Specialty Food, Woodland. Harris, the "Queen Bee" of Z Specialty Food, said advance registration is required. Access https://zspecialtyfood.com/event/california-honey-festival-after-party/.

Rebecca Irwin

But there's much more to it than that. What's in that floral nectar and pollen?

Think plant-pollinator-pathogen webs.

Rebecca Irwin, professor of applied ecology at North California State University, Raleigh, is traveling to UC Davis to present a seminar on "The Role of Floral Traits in Pollination and Bee Disease Transmission."

Her seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is set for 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16 in 122 Briggs Hall. Community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor and coordinator of the weekly seminars, will introduce her.

"Secondary compounds play a critical role in plant defense against herbivores," says Irwin in her abstract. "Although these compounds can increase plant resistance to herbivore feeding, they can also benefit herbivores by reducing parasitism. There is now widespread evidence that these same secondary compounds are also found in floral nectar and pollen."

"I will share multiple lines of evidence from a variety of collaborative projects in the lab and field suggesting that floral secondary compounds can reduce parasitism in bees, and that bees may be able to selectively forage on flowers with these compounds when they are parasitized," Irwin says. "Because floral secondary compounds alter pollinator behavior, they also have the potential to affect patterns of pollen movement and plant fitness. However, evidence suggests different effects across plant species. Finally, I will share with you results exploring the degree to which secondary compounds and other floral traits affect pollinator disease transmission in the field. Taken together, this seminar will provide empirical evidence into the diversity of roles that secondary compounds, and floral traits more generally, can play in plant-pollinator-pathogen webs."

Irwin, who received her doctorate from the University of Vermont, says on her website that the Irwin lab combines  "concepts and techniques from studies of plant-pollinator and plant-herbivore interactions to understand the ecological and evolutionary consequences of pollination mutualisms and how they will respond to environmental change. We also study the disease ecology and transmission biology of bees and their pathogens."

Irwin also shares her expertise on bee condos or bee hotels. "From humble coffee cans to fancier hotels with a roof, there are many ways to get creative with the design. Here, we provide a brief introduction into building a simple first time bee hotel."

And, she says, "hotels work better when facing southeast."

if you want to build your own bee housing units, check out the information on her website.

Professor Gordon Frankie, native bee authority

It's a party.

It's a pollinator party.

It's the Bay Area Bee Fair in Berkeley.

And it's the place to be on Sunday, Oct. 13 at the Berkeley Flea Market, located at Ashby BART.

The second annual event, free and family friendly, is set from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will feature a presentation on "How to Save the Bees" by UC Berkeley professor Gordon Frankie; educational and entertainment opportunities, kids' art activities, pollinator-themed art, and plant, book and bee condo sales, as well as honey and bee products, according to organizers Jackie Dragon and Mary Lynn Morales, who describe themselves as "Bee Fair dreamers."

The Bay Area Bee Fair is a time to "celebrate, educate and motivate the community about bees and other pollinators," they said.  "Their health is vital to our health."

The schedule:

• 10 a.m.: Opening and welcome
• 11 a.m.: "How to Make a Pollinator-Friendly Garden Presentation" by Andrea Hurd, of Mariposa Gardening
• Noon: "How to Save the Bees" by bee scientist Gordon Frankie, UC Berkeley professor and co-author of California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists.
• 2:30 p.m.: Giant Puppets Pollinator Parade
• 3 p.m.: Closing

For more information, access: 

https://www.bayareabeefair.org

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BayAreaBeeFair/about/

Original art work by UC Davis student Marisol Gonzalez for Biodiversity Day.

Well, on Saturday, Feb. 8 your wish will come true. You can not only see what's inside but ask those questions you've always wanted to ask.

It's the third annual UC Davis Biodiversity Day, when six biological museums open their doors to an eagerly awaiting public. It's set from noon to 4 p.m. 

It will be open house at these sites:

• Bohart Museum of Entomology
• Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology
• Botanical Conservatory
• Center for Plant Diversity
• Anthropology Collections, and
• Paleontology Collections

They're all within walking distance but you may want to bike or drive. This event is free and open to the public. There's free parking, too.  Families are encouraged to attend. 

What's to see? Well, for starters: insects and insect specimens, carnivorous plants, fossils and birds. You'll be able to talk to the experts.

See the Bohart Museum website to download a map. For more information on Biodiversity Day, contact Tabatha Yang of the Bohart Museum at tabyang@ucdavis.edu.