Backyard Orchard News
A Field Day for Learning About Cover Crops and Beneficial Insects
So you're a rural landowner thinking about planting cover crops in your fields or orchards. And/or,...
Larva of lady beetle munching on an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keeatley Garvey)
A multi-colored Asian beetles snags an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These are lady beetle eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How to Become a California Master Beekeeper
So you want to become a California Master Beekeeper. Yes! You can begin the process by...
This was the scene at the Harry H. Laidlaw Research Facility, UC Davis, for a testing of applicants for the California Master Beekeeper Program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An applicant for California Master Beekeeper examines a frame, while a proctor looks on. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Here are many of the apprentice-level graduates, Class of 2017, California Master Beekeeper Program. They were introduced and honored at the fourth annual UC Davis Bee Symposium. In the front row, fourth from left, is director Elina Lastro Niño. At far left, front row, is Bernardo Niño, the founding program manager. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Bee and The Ladybug
A little drama in the mustard patch... A honey bee is foraging head-first in the mustard. She's...
A honey bee and a lady beetle, aka lady bug, thrust deep inside a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, ladybug, get ready, here I come. We'll share, okay? Pollen and nectar for me. Aphids for you." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, ladybug, I'm coming closer." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, ladybug, I'm leaving. Enjoy the aphids." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bumbling Into Spring
Might As Well Be Spring"I'm as restless as a willow in a windstormI'm as jumpy as puppet on a...
A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heads for a nectarine tree in Vacaville, Calif. on March 18. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, forages on nectarine blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Delicate pink blossoms and a very hardy bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Rolling in the Mustard
A sure sign of spring: honey bees foraging on mustard. You'll see mustard growing as cover crops...
A honey bee foraging on mustard on Sunday, March 18 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Full speed ahead: "gold dust" or mustard pollen covers the head of this honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Look closely and you can see the proboscis (tongue) of this honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
And she's off! A honey bee caught in flight as she leaves a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)