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A Sure Sign of Spring
A sure sign of spring: trucks loaded with bee hives heading out to the almond orchards.
Yes, almond pollination season is almost here.
California has approximately 700,000 acres of almonds, and each acre requires two hives for pollination.
Since California doesn't have that many bee colonies, beekeepers from all over the country, some from as far away as Florida, are trucking in their bees.
A scene today in the Meadowview neighborhood, Sacramento: a truck loaded with hives and towing a forklift. The forklift? Quite necessary for easy movement and placement of the hives in the soggy orchards.
Ah, spring.
The almond pollination season begins around Feb. 10 and continues until approximately March 10. This encompasses the early, mid- and late varieties of almonds.
When asked today about the status of colony collapse disorder (CCD), Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, told us: "The colonies being delivered to the orchards currently should be in pretty good shape but CCD still is depleting those numbers in many commercial beekeeping operations in California and across the country."
Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Trucking Along
Ah, almonds!
To Bee or Not to Bee
When research entomologist Terry Griswold (left) speaks on North American bees on Wednesday, Feb. 10 in 122 Briggs Hall, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, he will bring with him his passion to diversify available crop pollinators and conserve pollinator populations.
His talk, from 12:10 to 1 p.m., will be Webcast and you can listen live. It will also be archived on this page. The noon lecture is part of the department's winter seminar series.
Griswold, who works for the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (also known as USDA-ARS) says his research relates to "the systematics, biogeography, and biodiversity of native bees in support of the research unit's efforts to diversify available crop pollinators and conserve pollinator populations."
He focuses his systematics research focuses on Megachilidae, "the family with the greatest potential for manageable pollinators."
That family includes such native bees as the leafcutter bee (below). These bees are so named because they cut pieces of leaves for their nests.
Other members of the family include mason bees and carder bees. They're solitary bees as opposed to social (honey bees).
Leafcutter Bee
Plant It and They Will Come
Plant it and they will come.
The Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, planted last fall, is already attracting a few honey bees.
The half-acre bee friendly garden, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis, includes vegetables, fruit trees and nut trees (almonds).
Today a honey bee sipped water from the folds of a cabbage leaf as another honey bee landed on a visitor. Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, manager of the Laidlaw facility, gently plucked her off.
The almond trees at the haven are just about ready to burst into bloom.
Make way for the bees!
Plans are under way for a public opening at the haven and the nearby Campus Buzzway, which is planted with coreopsis, golden poppies and perennial lupine. The event is tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2010. More details will be announced soon.
The two gardens will provide bees with a year-around food source and an educational opportunity for visitors, who can learn about bees and glean what to plant in their own yards.
Make way for the bees!
Making Headway
Almond blossoms
Haven Visitor
Bees and Butterflies Beckon
No, the bees and butterflies.
Professor Daniel Papaj of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, will speak on "Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives on Learning in Bees and Butterflies" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology noonhour seminar.The seminar is set for 12:10 to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 3 in 122 Briggs Hall, Kleiber Drive. Papaj's talk will be Webcast; listen live.
This is the fifth in a series of winter seminars coordinated by graduate student Ian Pearse of the Rick Karban lab. Graduate students James Harwood and Amy Morice of the James Carey lab are Webcasting the seminars.
According to Papaj's Web site, his laboratory studies the "reproductive dynamics of insects in the context of coevolved interactions. We are particularly interested in how the flexibility of an animal's behavior or physiology permits it to maintain high performance in variable environments. Plant-insect interactions are our primary focus, including mainly plant-herbivore and plant-pollinator interactions. Host-parasite, predator-prey, intrasexual and intersexual interactions are considered as well. Within this species interaction context, research topics addressed in our laboratory are diverse, as reflected in a list of keywords that describe recent work."
This look into the fascinating world of insects should draw a capacity crowd.
Papaj's talk will be archived for future viewing. Just access this page to view all the UC Davis Department of Entomology lectures Webcast since February 2009.
Westen Tiger Swallowtail
Honey Bee
Hissers in the Bohart
It’s a comfortable life.
Eat, sleep and mate. And then eat, sleep and mate again.
Madagascar hissing cockroaches are a popular attraction at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis. The museum, directed by entomologist Lynn Kimsey, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, houses more than seven million insect specimens from all over the world.
The "hissers" are part of the Bohart's go-live "petting zoo."
They're large. They're colorful. And they communicate, in part, by hissing.
Beetle enthusiast Fran Keller, a doctoral candidate in entomology, is not particularly fond of the roaches. Emily Bzdyk, a first-year graduate student, is.
You can tell by the photo below.
The hissers, native to Madagascar, can reach 2 to 3 inches in length and in nature, live on the forest floor. Read more about them on the National Geographic Web site.
The Bohart Museum, located in 1124 Academic Surge and founded in 1946 by the late Richard M. Bohart, former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is dedicated to teaching, research and service.
For more information on the Bohart Museum, visiting hours, and guided tours, contact education and outreach coordinator Tabatha Yang at (530) 752-0493 or tabyang@ucdavis.edu.
Yes, you can pet a hisser.
Different Reactions
Bigger than Big
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