Posts Tagged: bees

Digging the Digger Bees and the Newly Published Research

Have you ever seen the digger bees on the sandy cliffs of Bodega Head, Sonoma County? if you hike a short distance up a meandering trail, you'll see a landscape of turrets, the work of solitary, ground-nesting digger bees, Anthophora bomboides...

A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides standfordina, heading to her nest at Bodega Head. Note the ant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides standfordina, heading to her nest at Bodega Head. Note the ant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

At Bodega Head you can see turrets made by solitary, ground-nesting digger bees, Anthophora bomboides standfordina. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

At Bodega Head you can see turrets made by solitary, ground-nesting digger bees, Anthophora bomboides standfordina. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides standfordina, nectaring on wild radish. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides standfordina, nectaring on wild radish. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Here I am! Anthophora bomboides standfordina, at Bodega Head, Sonoma County. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Here I am! Anthophora bomboides standfordina, at Bodega Head, Sonoma County. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Rob Page: The Student, The Professor, The Scientist, The Administrator, The Legend

Internationally known honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page, Jr. is spotlighted in the current issue of American Entomologist in Marlin E. Rice's popular Legends feature. Titled "Robert E. Page, Jr.: The Spirit of the Bee," it's a great...

Internationally known honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr. checks out a swarm in Arizona.

Internationally known honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr. checks out a swarm in Arizona.

Rob Page, as a doctoral student at UC Davis, with his doctoral research mentor, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Page received his doctorate in 1980. (Photo by Ron Stecker)

Rob Page, as a doctoral student at UC Davis, with his doctoral research mentor, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Page received his doctorate in 1980. (Photo by Ron Stecker)

It's Pollinator Month: No Sweat?

In the sweltering heat of Solano County (100 degrees) during National Pollinator Month, how about an image of a sweat bee, genus Halictus, a tiny bee that's often overlooked in the world of pollinators. It's a social bee that nests in the soil....

A sweat bee, genus Halictus, sailing over a Coreopsis in a Vacaville pollinator garden. June is National Pollinator Month. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A sweat bee, genus Halictus, sailing over a Coreopsis in a Vacaville pollinator garden. June is National Pollinator Month. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Water Girls

If you're struggling with triple-digit temperatures, think about the honey bees. They need to collect water for their colony to cool the hive so their brood can develop. And for other purposes. Just call them "The Water Girls." Lately the bees have...

A honey bee, its proboscis extended, collects water from the edges of a birdbath. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, its proboscis extended, collects water from the edges of a birdbath. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For worker bees: Two's company, three's a crowd, and four is a work party. Bees collecting water from a birdbath. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For worker bees: Two's company, three's a crowd, and four is a work party. Bees collecting water from a birdbath. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'The Water Girls'--six of them--collecting water at a Vacaville birdbath. Note the absence of birds. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'The Water Girls'--six of them--collecting water at a Vacaville birdbath. Note the absence of birds. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee heading back to her colony after collecting water to cool down the hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee heading back to her colony after collecting water to cool down the hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bumble Bee's Beeline for a Rock Purslane

We miss the late Robbin Thorp, 1933-2019, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, who co-authored  Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide (Princeton University Press, 2014). He loved to share...

Bombus fervidus, formerly known as B. californicus, makes a beeline for a rock purslane in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bombus fervidus, formerly known as B. californicus, makes a beeline for a rock purslane in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bombus fervidus cradles itself in a rock purslane in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bombus fervidus cradles itself in a rock purslane in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The bumble bee's proboscis is easily seen in this image. This is Bombus fervidus foraging on a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The bumble bee's proboscis is easily seen in this image. This is Bombus fervidus foraging on a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bombus fervidus exits a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bombus fervidus exits a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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