Backyard Orchard News
How Are Butterflies Faring? Art Shapiro Addresses Butterfly Summit
"It ain't so much the things we don't know that get us into trouble, it's the things we do know...
Tora Rocha, founder of the Pollinator Posse, based in Oakland, introduces UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro. Rocha also delivered a presentation. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Following Art Shapiro's talk, attendees line up to speak to him. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Stevanne Auerbach of Berkeley, a consultant, author and speaker, talks to Art Shapiro following his Butterfly Summit talk at Annie's Annuals and Perennials. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What a Load on This Bumble Bee!
It was billed as the second annual Butterfly Summit, hosted last Saturday by Annie's Annuals and...
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on Anchusa azurea at Annie's Annuals and Perennials, Richmond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Check out this pollen load of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on Anchusa azurea at Annie's Annuals and Perennials, Richmond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollen load looks like saddle bags! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Upsy daisy! Yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, goes in head first on Anchusa azurea. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why Timing Is Everything in Bumble Bee Colonies
Timing is everything. Especially when it comes to bumble bee colonies. Postdoctoral scholar...
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenkii, nectaring on Anchusa azurea, of the borage family. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
One of Rosemary Malfi's bumble bee colonies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tower of Jewels: Aptly Named
Let's hear it for the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. Native to the island of Tenerife and...
A honey bee heads for a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, a biennual. This image was taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Nectar! Honey bees love echium due to its high nectar content. This one also yields blue pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
On the move! It's off to find another nectar-rich blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to head home to the colony and unload the nectar and pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Butterfly Summit Features UC Davis Expert Art Shapiro
How's the butterfly population faring in north-central California? What do you plant to attract and...
A male monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomologist and author Sal Levinson speaks at the inaugural Butterfly Summit. Seated next to her is Tora Rocha, founder of the Pollinator Posse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This was the scene at the first-ever Butterfly Summit at Anne's Annuals and Perennials, Richmond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)