Backyard Orchard News
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)
Wearing o' the Green
On St. Patrick's Day, we see green. We crave green. We wear green. And the penalty for not wearing...
A close-up of a male green sweet bee, Agapostemon texanus, nectaring on a coneflower, Rudbeckia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Saving a Spider
I did not save a spider yesterday. Did not save one today, either. Well, if I had seen...
A winter ant, Prenolepis imparis, encounters a Phidippus, jumping spider in an almond tree on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A blanketflower, Gaillardia, was a perfect meeting place for this crab spider and a bee, Halictus tripartitus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A crab spider dining on a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)