- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In observation of National Pollinator Week, the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology has scheduled an open house at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Friday, June 19.
Activities will include bee observation and identification, honey tasting, sales of native bee houses to support the haven, and information about low-water plants.
The garden, planted in the fall of 2009, is located on Bee Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.
The garden 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. It is now managed by Chris Casey, staff director, and Extension apiculturist Elina Niño , faculty director.
Kimsey was singled out for her work when the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America honored her and four others--"The Bee Team"--with the 2013 outstanding team award.
A Sausalito team--landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki--won the design competition.
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, has found more than 85 species of bees since its inception.
For more information on the garden, see the haven website. This includes a list of plants. The history of the garden is chronicled here.