The warmth of the sun and the lure of nectar beckoned the hover flies or flower flies to our bee friendly garden. We saw this one nectaring the rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) last weekend.
Ever wonder how a honey bee sees? Its compound eyes are comprised of hundreds of single eyes (ommatidia), each with its own lens. It can distinguish colors, but can't see red, which it interprets as black.
Hap-bee Thanksgiving! If you're having cranberries, squash, pumpkins, carrots, cucumbers (and pickles) onions, grapefruit, oranges, apples, pears, cherries, blueberries, sunflowers and almonds, you can thank the honey bee.
I slipped into the back yard today to see how many honey bees were nectaring the lavender, one of the few plants still blooming. A few here. A few there. That's when I saw her. A bee the color of pure gold. And she was carrying a load of pollen that was equally pure gold.
In a way, it's "tea for two." The New Zealand tea tree, Leptospermum scoparium, aka "manuka," "tea tree," and "Leptospermum," is a favorite of the light brown apple moth AND honey bees. We captured images of bees on Leptospermum scoparium keatleyi recently in Sausalito.
Picture this. A light rainstorm strikes the garden, pummeling and shredding some of the blossoms. As the rain lets up, a honey bee buzzes into a rock purslane blossom for a sweet shot of nectar. She is not alone. If you look closely, you'll see three green aphids on an unopened blossom next to her.
Humans aren't the only calendar pin-up models. Think native bees. Think the 2010 Native Bees Calendar. The Xerces Society and the Great Sunflower Project have joined forces to produce a calendar showcasing 12 commonly found native bees.
It probably bugs her but it doesn't kill her. But why? An entomologist at the University of Montreal is investigating why parasitic wasps (Dinocampus coccinellae) that lay their eggs on ladybugs (Coccinella maculata) do not kill them. Often a parasitic insect, such as a tachinid fly, kills its host.
A buggy thing happened on the way to a meeting. As we left Briggs Hall, a three-story building on the UC Davis campus that houses the Department of Entomology, we noticed a wasp at our feet.
