Backyard Orchard News
A Bumble Bee on Mustard in the Golden State
What's better than a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) on yellow mustard? Not much....
A pollen-laded yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, buzzes toward a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Coming in for a landing! A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, lands on a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It doesn't get any better than this. Yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) lands on a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Living on the Edge
Congratulations to Hoang Danh “Derrick” Nguyen, a graduate student in the Christian...
Hoang Danh "Derrick" Nguyen, who is studying for his master's degree in entomology, is shown here sampling insects from strawerry plants. (Photo by Christian Nansen)
Rain Won't Cancel Open House, Plant Sale at UC Davis Bee Garden
Think spring. Think ceanothus. Think salvia. Think pollinators. Despite the rain forecast, the...
Honey bees love ceanothus, a plant that will be offered at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Saturday, April 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at the UC Davis Arboretum Plant Nursery sale on April 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee, aka "the teddy bear bee" or Xylocopa varipuncta, takes a liking to penstemon, a popular plant at the UC Davis Arboretum Nursery plant sale. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Yes, You Do Eat Insects!
Yes, you do eat insects! Maybe not deliberately, as in those who engage in entomophagy, the...
Booklice, Liposcelis bostrychophila, in cornmeal. This image was taken with a Canon MPE-65mm lens. The bugs are five times their life size. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is what you really see with the naked eye: the booklice are nearly microscopic. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why These Mealworms Don't Miss a Meal
Several years ago you probably read about the Stanford researchers who discovered that...
Close-up of a mealworm on Styrofoam. This image was taken with a Canon MPE-65 mm lens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Trevor Fowles, a second-year doctoral student in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, with his mealworms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mealworms eating Styrofoam in the Christian Nansen lab at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)