Ongoing research

If there's one plant in our yard that the honey bees don't like, it's the begonia. Lavender, sage, catmint and sedum? Bring 'em on. Sunflowers, citrus and pomegranate? Yes! Yes! Yes! Rock purslane? Like rock candy. Oh, how about a little begonia, Ms. Honey Bee? Sorry, not interested.

Good news! Entomologist Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and a member of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences faculty, has just received one of three Pest Management Alliance Grants awarded by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)...

Apimondia. No, it's not a rock band or a new dance move or a new Billboard hit. It's the name of a worldwide bee organization. The 41st World Apiculture Congress is meeting this week through Sunday, Sept. 20 in Montepellier, France, and the buzz is all about what's killing the honey bees.

Rising soon from the ashes of the Baxter House fire will be the soothing colors of the Campus Buzzway. It's a story that began in May 1938 with a farmhouse-turned-lab-turned-eyesore. It will end with the honey bees' version of "A Field of Dreams"--the Campus Buzzway.

It's raining rain lilies in the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden of the UC Davis Arboretum. The Argentine Rain Lily (Zephyranthes candida), also known as the White Rain Lily, White Fairy Lily and White Zephyr Lily, is drawing a few honey bees, but the bees like the lavender and sage best.

If you stuff your turkey with sage, chances are it's Salvia officinalis. Not the turkey, the sage.

If you're into composting, chances are you've seen this one. Common name: black soldier fly (BSF). Scientific name: Hermetia illucens. Before you say "yecch"--wait! This is considered a beneficial insect because its larvae are quite desirable in compost piles.

It's time to pop open a bottle of champagne and do a happy dance. Finally, finally, we saw a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) in our yard. After a 20-year absence.

South Sacramento Valley Almond Meeting Announcement Sutter/Yuba/Colusa Walnut Day Announcement...

You've probably seen carpenter bees engage in the practice known as "nectar robbing." Due to their large size, they cannot enter tubelike blossoms such as salvia (sage), so they slit the base of the corolla. They rob the nectar without pollinating the flower.