Posts Tagged: mallow

Sorry, We're Closed? Not the California Master Beekeeper Program!

Sorry, we're closed! What's a honey bee to do when one of her favorite flowers, cape mallow (Anisodontea sp. "Strybing Beauty") is not open for bees-ness. Well, leave it to the bee to find a way. We recently witnessed a honey bee encountering a...

An energetic honey bee heads for a cape mallow (Anisodontea sp. "Strybing Beauty"), only to find it closed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An energetic honey bee heads for a cape mallow (Anisodontea sp. "Strybing Beauty"), only to find it closed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Are you really closed for bees-ness? The honey bee peers inside the cape mallow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Are you really closed for bees-ness? The honey bee peers inside the cape mallow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I'm going in! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I'm going in! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ah, sweet nectar! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ah, sweet nectar! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bees, We Can't Get Enough of Them!

The joy of the season strikes a chord. When bees slip out of their California hives during winter sun breaks, they often head over to mallow blossoms to grab some nectar and pollen. A favorite is the tree mallow, Lavatera maritima “bicolor,"...

Honey bee cleans her tongue in flight as she heads for another mallow blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee cleans her tongue in flight as she heads for another mallow blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Save some for me!" A honey bee buzzes upward toward a mallow blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Save some for me!" A honey bee buzzes upward toward a mallow blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Two can share, right?" Honey bees jockey for position--and pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Two can share, right?" Honey bees jockey for position--and pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Okay, let's share!" Two honey bees eye one another. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Okay, let's share!" Two honey bees eye one another. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Common Checkered Skipper: Sometimes It's Not So Common!

The Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) is never alone. It loves company, attracting scores of insect guests, from honey bees to bumble bees to butterflies. We've seen monarchs, Gulf Fritillaries, Western tiger swallowtails, buckeyes, and fiery skippers...

A common checkered skipper, Pyrgus communis, visits a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A common checkered skipper, Pyrgus communis, visits a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Common checkered skipper, Pyrgus communis, leaving the Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Common checkered skipper, Pyrgus communis, leaving the Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Winter Visit to the UC Davis Arboretum

You don't see many honey bee foraging in the winter. They're snuggled deep inside their hives, awaiting spring. But when the temperature hits a sunny 55, look for them. It's winter in the UC Davis Arboretum, 11 weeks until spring. Last Saturday we...

A honey bee foraging on a bush mallow, Lavatera maritima, in the UC Davis Arboretum,in the vicinity of the Mediterranean Collection, back of the Storer Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee foraging on a bush mallow, Lavatera maritima, in the UC Davis Arboretum,in the vicinity of the Mediterranean Collection, back of the Storer Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A little pollen? A little! A honey bee foraging on the hibiscus-like blossom of a bush mallow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A little pollen? A little! A honey bee foraging on the hibiscus-like blossom of a bush mallow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Around the Cape

It's not just honey bees that forage among the cape mallows in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis. The brilliant magenta flowers also draw assorted other...

Hover Fly on Cape Mallow

HOVER FLY foraging on cape mallow at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis. The haven is known as a half-acre "bee friendly garden," but it's also a "pollinator-friendly garden." Located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus, it is open year-around from dawn to dusk. Admission is free.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up

CLOSE-UP of hover fly, aka flower fly, on cape mallow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Read more