Ongoing research

It's good to see so many publications focusing on the pollinator crisis--because that's exactly what it is, a crisis. Writing for the Nature journal, Sharon Levy recently examined pollination studies that focus on the importance of pollinators and the plants they frequent.

Thanksgiving will come early to the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis. An open house, appropriately themed "Thankful for Bugs," is set from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1124 Academic Surge on California Drive. And it's free. Visitors can view insect specimens from all over the world.

Article originally posted on the UC ANR Green Blog on October 11, 2011. Written by Danial Putnam and reposted with permission.

Article originally posted on the UC ANR Green Blog. Written by Rebecca Miller-Cripps and reposted with permission. Brad Weeds, weeds, weeds! Have you noticed? This has been a banner year for weeds. Puncturevine where Ive never seen it before.

The 2011 harvest is pretty much finished. Yield reports are starting to come in, and so far it seems that yields were OK. I've heard of growers that thought their yields were going to be much higher, but considering the rough start, are happy with the more "average" yields.

The Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, and its adjacent honey bee garden, the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, received an international shot of publicity when My Extreme Animal Phobia aired last Friday on the Animal Planet Channel.

Let it bee. But the California State Beekeepers Association (CSBA) certainly won't. When the beekeepers and their affiliates gather today (Monday, Nov. 14) through Thursday, Nov.

Today I thought I'd put in a plug for the California Weed Science Society (CWSS) annual meeting to be held January 23-25, 2012 in Santa Barbara. Information on the meeting can be found in the October newsletter at: http://www.cwss.org/PDF/CWSS_Fall_2011_Newsletter.

Someone scrawled "Bugs Rule" on a Briggs Hall blackboard during a recent UC Davis Picnic celebration. A delightful drawing of a bug accompanied the proclamation. Bugs do rule, and they'll rule at the 59th annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), to take place Nov.

Are you afraid of bees? Not apiculturist Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and a professional bee wrangler. He worked behind the scenes in a new Animal Planet program, My Extreme Animal Phobia, scheduled to be broadcast Friday, Nov. 11 at 10 p.m.