Ongoing research

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TENDING BEES--Michael "Kim" Fondrk of UC Davis tends his bees in a Dixon almond orchard. This photo appeared in The IPM Practitioner. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Well Said

January 28, 2009
UC Davis bee specialists were well represented in a recent edition of The IPM Practitioner, which landed on our desk last week. The edition, devoted to Pesticides and Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, includes four photos from the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
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SIX-PETALED FLOWER--A honey bee forages on a winter jasmine in the Storer Gardens, University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Golden Moments

January 27, 2009
It blooms in winter and the bees love it. Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum), a rambling vine with trumpetlike yellow flowers, is charming visitors in the Storer Gardens at the University of California, Davis. The plant originates from western China.
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GREEN EYES--The male Valley carpenter bee is a green-eyed, golden insect nicknamed the "teddy bear" carpenter bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Just Wanna Be Your 'Teddy Bear'

January 26, 2009
When you think of a teddy bear, you think of a huggable stuffed animal. Not so entomologists. When they think of a teddy bear, they think of the male Valley carpenter bee. It's a green-eyed, fluffy golden insect that's nicknamed "teddy bear." You can hug it, too.
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RED DRAGONFLY--UC Davis entomologist Michael Parrella submitted this photograph in the Insect Salon juried photography show at the Entomological Society of America's 56th annual meeting, held last November in Reno. Photographers from around the world entered the competition. Parrella is an associate dean of agricultural sciences at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and professor of entomology and environmental horticulture at UC Davis. (Photo by Michael Parrella)
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Art Show: A Fusion of Art and Science

January 23, 2009
If you like to combine art with science, here you go. In keeping with the theme, The Consilience of Art And Science," the Pence Gallery and the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program are sponsoring a juried exhibition, open to all artists and scientists.
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LADYBUG STAGES--These photos were taken Jan. 19 in Fairfield, Solano County, California. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Ladybugs Are Out

January 21, 2009
Yes, they are. The ladybugs are out, at least in some parts of Northern California. We received an email last week from a professional wildlife photographer from Germany who wants to film hibernating ladybugs in February. He's on a magazine assignment.
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CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLY--This is a Pieris rapae similar to what UC Davis professor Art Shapiro found Jan. 20. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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He Did It!

January 20, 2009
He did it. I knew he would Hardly anyone can beat University of California, Davis professor Arthur Shapiro in finding the first cabbage white butterfly of the year. For the past 38 years, he's been hosting a "Beer-for-Butterfly" contest.
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HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU--A praying mantis shows no fear. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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On Your Knees!

January 19, 2009
The praying mantis glared at me. It was not afraid of me, my camera, or my jockeying around to get a better position. When I captured the image (below) last fall in a neighbor's garden, I decided that in 2009, I would get my very own praying mantis. Or maybe dozens of them.
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TEAM B.E.E.S.--These high school students from Allendale, N.J., are learning to be beekeepers and are educating the public about the importance of bees. From left are Camila Robbins, Bryan DiBlasi, Malith Waharaka, Colin Bassett, and Manny Gonzalez. However, Allendale prohibits backyard beekeeping. They're lobbying to change the ordinance.
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What Would We Do Without the Bees?

January 16, 2009
Dianne DiBlasi is frustrated. Shes the advisor of Team B.E.E.S. (Bergen Environmental Effort to Save Bees), a group of six high school students in Allendale, N.J. involved in a honey bee project.
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BEE CRUSADER--Katie Brown, 6, of Phoenix, Ariz., loves bees and just donated $20 from her allowance savings to the UC Davis honey bee research program.
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Our Young Bee Crusaders

January 15, 2009
Dear Bee Scientists, wrote 6-year-old Katie Brown of Phoenix, Ariz. I am giving this money to you so you can help the bees. I love the bees. She enclosed $20 from her allowance savings. Hannah Fisher Gray, 11, of Wilmington, Del.
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