Ongoing research

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The blue orchard bee or BOB (Osmia) is being studied as an alternative pollinator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Aspiring for Better Pollination

January 16, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
We can expect some exciting research to emerge from the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). And UC Davis pollination ecologist Neal Williams, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology, is a part it.
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Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

So You Want to Learn About Native Bees...

January 16, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
So you want to learn about native bees... Be sure to attend Robbin Thorp's presentation on "Buzzed for Bees" on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 19 at the Rush Ranch Nature Center, Suisun.
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Michael Branstetter at Reserva Nacional Kahka Creek, Nicaragua. He is in the process of doing a transect of mini Winkler samples. (Photo by Laura Sáenz)
Bug Squad: Article

Why He Studies Ants

January 14, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Michael Branstetter, who will present a UC Davis Department of Entomology seminar on Wednesday, Jan. 16, is passionate about ants. "Ants are the most successful group of social insects on the Earth," says Branstetter, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
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Honey bee foraging in bacopa on grounds of the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

An Awesome Bloomer

January 11, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
At first glance, we thought "Strawberry blossoms!" Not strawberries, though.
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UC Weed Science (weed control, management, ecology, and minutia): Article

Production notes on Sweetpotato Hotbeds

January 11, 2013
By Clifford S Stoddard
Here's an article from the Sweetpotato Tips newsletter on hotbed cost production. Click here for a direct link to the January 2013 edition. PRODUCTION NOTESHotbeds Hotbeds begin soon.
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UC Berkeley conservation biologist Claire Kremen (right) confers with colleague Alexandria-Marie Klein, then a postdoctoral fellow in her lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey).
Bug Squad: Article

Why This Honey Bee Research Is So Important

January 10, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They're on to something. Definitely. An international research team has been researching honey bee pollination of almonds in the three-county area of Yolo, Colusa and Stanislaus since 2008, and what these scientists have discovered is astounding.
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Almond tree blooming on Jan. 1, 2013 in Benicia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

First Almond Blossom of 2013

January 9, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Talk about an early bloomer! At least one almond tree was blooming in California on the first day of the year. In the Benicia State Recreation Area, to be exact. We spotted the almond tree flowering on Jan. 1 near the entrance to the state park.
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'THE BAD'--This is a Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito that transmits West Nile virus and other diseases. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

The Biggest and the Baddest

January 8, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Sometimes we divide insects into "the biggest and the baddest." Such will be the case Sunday, Jan. 13 when the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, hosts an open house from 1 to 4 p.m., in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building.
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