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VETERAN VENTURA beekeeper Bill Weinerth films the bee swarm Thursday, April 23 at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. He was at the UC Davis facility for an advanced bee insemination course taught by bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Perfect Planning

April 23, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Perfect planning. Except it wasnt planned. On the last day of a two-day advanced workshop on "The Technique of Instrumental Insemination, taught by bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. UC Davis, bees from one of the hives began to swarm.
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THREE'S COMPANY--Three soldier beetles search for aphids on a rose bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Good Soldiers

April 22, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They're good soldiers, those soldier beetles. Members of the family Cantharidae, they are beneficial insects that eat other insects, especially aphids and caterpillars--but just about any soft-bodied insect will do. If no insects are available, you'll see them dining on nectar and pollen.
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Bug Squad: Article

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

April 21, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, eat lots of aphids. Did we say lots of aphids? Lots of aphids. They have no portion control. If you watch closely, you'll see them gobble aphids like theater-goers devour buttered popcorn.
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OL' BLUE EYES--This is a male mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex Smith, nectaring salvia (sage). Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Ol' Blue Eyes

April 20, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It wasn't the Battle of the Sexes. It was the Battle of the Males. I spotted two male carpenter bees buzzing loudly over the salvia (sage) in our back yard Saturday morning. Each was lying in wait for a female, but instead found a competitor.
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ROUNDING UP THE TERMITES--Coordinating the termite trail activity last year at the UC Davis Picnic Day at Briggs Hall was graduate student Tara Thiemann. She'll also be coordinating the termite trails again this year. The UC Davis Picnic Day is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 18. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

They'll Walk the Line

April 17, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Who hates termites? Raise your hands. Those dratted termites damage our homes, decks, furniture, fence posts and other wooden materials. But at the 95th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 18, youll see termites walk the line--ala the Johnny Cash song--between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
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FLY ON A ROSE--We're accustomed to seeing insects on roses, but not flies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Fly on a Rose Petal

April 16, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Poet Gertrude Stein wrote in her 1913 poem, "Sacred Emily," that "a rose is a rose is a rose." Things are what they are. The laws of identity. No matter where I go, there I am. When I captured this photo last Sunday of a fly on a rose petal, I immediately thought "A fly is a fly is a fly.
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COOPERATIVE EXTENSION APICULTURIST Eric Mussen (center) answers questions about honey at the annual honey tasting table at Briggs Hall, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

A Taste of Honey

April 15, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you attend the 95th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 18 and stop by Briggs Hall between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., you'll get a taste of honey. In fact, six tastes of honey.
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JERDON'S JUMPING ANT or Harpegnathos saltator will be among the topics discussed at the Christian Peeters' lecture from noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 15 at 122 Briggs Hall, UC Davis. (Photo courtesy of entomologist-insect photographer Alex Wild)
Bug Squad: Article

Jumping Jehosaphat!

April 14, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're accustomed to seeing ants crawl, wait a minute...some can actually jump. Ants? Jump? Like leaping lizards? True. Harpegnathos saltator, aka Jerdon's jumping ant, a species found in India, can indeed jump. It can leap a distance of about 10 centimeters (about 3.9 inches).
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APHIDS ON A ROSE BUSH--Aphids suck plant juices, as these are doing here. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fast Food

April 13, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
In a matter of days, the aphids discovered our newly purchased rose bushes. They clustered around the buds and unfolding leaves, piercing the tender stems and sucking the plant juices as if there were no tomorrow. For some of them, there would be no tomorrow.
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ROWS OF QUEEN BEE CELLS are framed against the blue sky. This photo was taken at the apiary of C. F. Koehnen & Sons, Inc., Glenn, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Peanuts, Popcorn, Cracker Jacks? No, Queen Bee Cells

April 10, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
With the opening of baseball season, it's "peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks!" But to beekeepers, it's peanuts. Or rather, peanut-like shells. Immature queen bees grow to maturity in cells that resemble peanut shells. When UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, manager of the Harry H.
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