Bug Squad

The Bug Squad blog, by Kathy Keatley Garvey of the University of California, Davis, is a daily (Monday-Friday) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008. It is about the wonderful world of insects and the entomologists who study them. Blog posts are archived at https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/index.cfm. The story behind "The Sting" is here: https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7735.

Feral honey bee colony in a Modesto ash tree in Vacaville is still going strong. On Sunday, it will enter its third year of existence. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

'Out with the Old?' Not!

December 30, 2011

As 2012 approaches, it's "out with the old and in with the new!" Not always. The huge feral honey bee colony that we photographed Jan. 9, 2011 in a Modesto ash tree at a Vacaville (Solano County), backyard, is still going strong.

View Article

Honey bee takes a liking to a bulbine in mid-December in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Big on the Bulbines

December 29, 2011

It's like a spray of sunshine in the depths of winter. The Bulbine frutescens, native to the desert grasslands of South Africa, is blooming well in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

View Article

Queen bee insemination, perfected by bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of UC Davis and Washington State University, can help aid the troubled bee industry. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Building a Better Bee

December 28, 2011

You won't find anyone more passionate about building a better bee than bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, who holds dual appointments at the University of California, Davis and Washington State University.

View Article

Article

Be a Beekeeper, Not a Bee-Haver

December 27, 2011

If you're planning to join the ranks of backyard beekeepers in 2012, you should keep a few things in mind, says Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

View Article

Article

The 'Teddy Bear' Bee

December 26, 2011

Lots of youngsters received teddy bears as holiday gifts. But native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, received a teddy bear, too. Of sorts.

View Article