Master Gardeners of Ventura County
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Master Gardeners of Ventura County

Posts Tagged: Bombus melanopygus

Breeze Blasts Bombus at Bodega Bay

Bodega Bay dawned cold and windy on Sunday, April 24.  Windy? 27 mph! We didn't think we'd see a single bumble bee foraging on the blooming ice plants, poppies, wild radishes, or lupines, but there it was, a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus...

No wind today! A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, foraging on lavender in Vacaville, Calif., on May 16, 2017. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
No wind today! A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, foraging on lavender in Vacaville, Calif., on May 16, 2017. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

No wind today! A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, foraging on lavender in Vacaville, Calif., on May 16, 2017. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 3:23 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources

Where Are All the Bumble Bees?

Seen any bumble bees lately? No? Me, neither. It's almost the first day of spring, and bumble bees are as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth. (Hens have no teeth, y'know.) We've been watching our nectarine tree bloom. It's drawing honey bees, but no...

A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heading for the Garvey nectarine tree on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heading for the Garvey nectarine tree on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heading for the Garvey nectarine tree on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ahh, sweet nectar! A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ahh, sweet nectar! A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ahh, sweet nectar! A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Wait, just a little more!  A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Wait, just a little more! A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Wait, just a little more! A Bombus melanopygus nectaring on a nectarine blossom on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 5:32 PM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

A Delight to See in January: A Bombus in Benicia

They're out there! Yes, after a l-o-n-g, cold, hard winter, bumble bees are emerging. At least in Solano County.  At 11:20 a.m. today (Wednesday, Jan. 13), we spotted a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging...

A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, heads for oxalis blossoms in Benicia on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, heads for oxalis blossoms in Benicia on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, heads for oxalis blossoms in Benicia on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Side view of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, on oxalis in Benicia. Note the orange pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, on oxalis in Benicia. Note the orange pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Side view of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, on oxalis in Benicia. Note the orange pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bombus vosnesenskii, caught in flight, targets oxalis in Benicia.  (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Bombus vosnesenskii, caught in flight, targets oxalis in Benicia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bombus vosnesenskii, caught in flight, targets oxalis in Benicia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee buzzes toward the foraging bumble bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee buzzes toward the foraging bumble bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee buzzes toward the foraging bumble bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 4:26 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Good Morning from a Sleepy Bumble Bee

Benjamin Franklin reportedly said: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." What about the sleeping patterns of bumble bees? Bumble bees are definitely early risers--if the weather cooperates. They usually forage...

A bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, commonly known as a
A bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, commonly known as a "black-tailed bumble bee," awakens on a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, commonly known as a "black-tailed bumble bee," awakens on a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Good morning! The Bombus melanopygus peers over a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Good morning! The Bombus melanopygus peers over a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Good morning! The Bombus melanopygus peers over a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Time to forage! The Bombus melanopygus peers investigages a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to forage! The Bombus melanopygus peers investigages a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Time to forage! The Bombus melanopygus peers investigages a Spanish lavender in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at 4:52 PM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

We Have a Winner of the Yolo-Solano Bumble Bee Contest!

We have a winner of the Yolo-Solano Memorial Bumble Bee Contest! Macro insect photographer extraordinaire Allan Jones captured an image of a female black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus on Monday, Jan. 6 on the UC Davis campus. The time: 1:45...

Photographer Allan Jones captured this image of a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, on Jan. 6 in UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden to win the Robbin Thorp Memorial Bumble Bee Contest.
Photographer Allan Jones captured this image of a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, on Jan. 6 in UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden to win the Robbin Thorp Memorial Bumble Bee Contest.

Photographer Allan Jones captured this image of a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, on Jan. 6 in UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden to win the Robbin Thorp Memorial Bumble Bee Contest.

Allan Jones (left) photographs Robbin Thorp on May 22, 2012 in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee garden on Bee Biology Road operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Allan Jones (left) photographs Robbin Thorp on May 22, 2012 in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee garden on Bee Biology Road operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Allan Jones (left) photographs Robbin Thorp on May 22, 2012 in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee garden on Bee Biology Road operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Monday, January 6, 2020 at 4:23 PM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Yard & Garden

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