Archive Nut, Prune and Olive Programs

Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees And the flowers and the trees... The Birds and the Bees (music and lyrics by Herb Newman) Don't know about "the birds and the flowers and the trees," but the bees were definitely there. Lots of bees. More than 250,000.

The next time you enjoy a bowl of steamed rice, thank the California rice industry. And a University of California Cooperative Extension Team.

It wasn't too surprising. Reuters posted a story online today about flies spreading drug-resistant "superbugs" from chicken droppings.

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A honey bee exhibit at the 133rd annual Dixon May Fair featuring Cooperative Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen has just won a top regional honor. The exhibit, housed appropriately in the floriculture building, won second place in the Western Fairs Associations non-competitive exhibit category.

The BBC this week examined colony collapse disorder (CCD), a mysterious phenomonen characterized by bees abandoning their hives. The adult bees buzz off, leaving the brood and stored food behind. They do not return.

A chimpanzee holds a monarch butterfly in a ceramic art work titled Darwin. Human hands cradle insects and assorted objects in a ceramic work titled Analyze This. Those are just two of the art works featured in a juried show under way at the Pence Gallery, 212 D St., Davis.

Tomorrow's a good day to learn about carabid beetles. Kipling "Kip" Will, associate professor of insect systematics, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley, will discuss his research at a noon seminar, Wednesday, March 11 in 122 Briggs Hall, UC Davis.

The skies brightened last weekend and the rain-weary honey bees returned to the nectarine blossoms in our yard They were in the pink again! Capturing images of the bees gathering nectar and pollen is more fun than eating cotton candy at a county fair. Springlike day. Radiant pink flowers.

Pistol packin mamas have nothing on honey bees. Have you ever seen the pollen load that a honey bee carries? What's pollen? It's the fine, powder-like material produced by the anthers of flowering plants, or the grains that contain the male reproductive cells of a seed plant.