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Ready to tour the UC Davis Bee Haven at the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 21? 

The Haven is one 12 UC Davis museums or collections  that will be showcased on this very special day known as "Super Science Day," a day to discover, explore and connect. The event, held across campus at varying times, ranging between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is free and family friendly, and a great opportunity to talk to the scientists. 

Hours of The Haven tour: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

As Samantha "Sam" Murray, garden and education coordinator of The Haven, says:

"Visit the UC Davis Bee Haven and explore a vibrant pollinator garden home to more than 200 plant species that support honey bees and native pollinators. The haven is a half-acre pollinator demonstration garden installed in the fall of 2009. This interdisciplinary space blends art, education and ecological design to create meaningful habitat and learning opportunities. Guests can enjoy a hands-on experience in the garden, take home seed cookies to plant, ask questions about all things bees, and view an observation frame for a rare, up-close look at bees in their natural environment. It’s a chance to learn and connect and be inspired by the world of pollinators."

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The Bee Haven,  a half-acre pollinator demonstration garden installed and maintained by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is located at 1 Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. The Haven is open throughout the year (during daylight hours) and admission is free.

A six-foot-long worker bee, "Miss Bee Haven," by artist Donna Billick, anchors the garden. The ceramic-mosaic art throughout The Haven is the work of UC Davis Distinguished Professor (now emerita) Diane Ullman, co-founder and now emerita director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program. Under her tutelage, entomology students enrolled in her Department of Entomology and Nematology course, "Art, Science and the World of Insects," created the art, along with faculty, staff and community members involved with the Art/Science Fusion Program.

Sam Murray is also a beekeeper and a member of the bee lab of Elina Lastro Niño, professor of Cooperative Extension, apiculture/UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nemtology faculty. Elina is the founder and director of the California Master Beekeeper Program and director of The Haven. 

In addition, Sam is one of four speakers who will participate in the BioDiv Day speaker series that runs from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Silverado Vineyards' Sensory Theatre of the Sensory Building, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road. She will speak on "Creating Your Own Pollinator Haven." The schedule:

• 4 p.m.: Pallavi Shakya, doctoral candidate, lab of nematologist Shahid Siddique, "Into the Nematode World."
• 4:15 p.m.: Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator of The Bee Haven and member of the bee lab of Elina Niño, "Creating Your Own Pollinator Haven"
• 4:30 p.m.: Tracy Thomson, UC Davis Earth and Planetary Sciences, research assistant, "Hobnobbing in the Cretaceous: What's Up With Dinosaur Forelimbs?" He will present a new hypothesis about the function of alvarezsaurid or long-legged dinosaurs.
• 4:45 p.m.: Kyria Boundy-Mills, collection curator and research microbiologist, Phaff Yeast Collection. "Creative Uses of Yeasts." 

For more about the 12 museums and collections and their exhibits, access the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website at https://entomology.ucdavis.edu/news/what-see-and-do-15th-annual-uc-davis-biodiversity-museum-day

Cover image: Native bee art displayed on the garden shed, UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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