Posts Tagged: fava beans

Lovin' the Fava Beans

Every time we see honey bees pollinating fava bean blossoms, we think of actor Anthony Hopkins. Remember that malevolent scene in the "Silence of the Lambs" film (1991) when serial killer Hannibal Lecter (portrayed magnificently by...

A honey bee heads for fava bean blossoms. Note the silver-gray pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee heads for fava bean blossoms. Note the silver-gray pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Success! A honey bee foraging on a fava bean blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Success! A honey bee foraging on a fava bean blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sure Sign of Spring

What's red and black with yellow all over? Ladybugs, aka lady beetles or ladybird beetles, laying their yellow eggs. It's a sure sign of spring when aphids emerge, and ladybugs feast on them. One ladybug can reportedly eat 5000 aphids in its...

Ladybugs mating; the female continues to munch aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ladybugs mating; the female continues to munch aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up shot of ladybug eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up shot of ladybug eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Panoramic view of ladybugs, aphids, and ladybug eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Panoramic view of ladybugs, aphids, and ladybug eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Favoring the Fava Beans

People aren't the only ones favoring fava beans. Fava beans growing in a raised bed in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, are attracting honey bees, European paper wasps, lacewings, ladybugs, aphids and carpenter...

A lady beetle, aka ladybug, prowling on a fava bean leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A lady beetle, aka ladybug, prowling on a fava bean leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

European paper wasp on the hunt. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

European paper wasp on the hunt. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee foraging on a fava bean blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee foraging on a fava bean blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Female Valley carpenter bee robbing nectar by slitting the corolla. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Female Valley carpenter bee robbing nectar by slitting the corolla. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Love in the Fava Beans

It was lovely day today, in more ways than one.During the lunch hour, we stopped by the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis, and discovered more than just blossoms in the planter box filled with fava...

Ladybugs in the fava beans at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ladybugs in the fava beans at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Soon the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven will have a new generation of ladybugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Soon the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven will have a new generation of ladybugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ladybugs doing what comes naturally. Fava bean blossoms are at the right. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ladybugs doing what comes naturally. Fava bean blossoms are at the right. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A sole ladybug, aka lady beetle, crawls past a pair of the beetles. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A sole ladybug, aka lady beetle, crawls past a pair of the beetles. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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