Backyard Orchard News
The Day a Widow Skimmer Came Calling
Just as all lady bugs aren't ladies, all widow skimmer dragonflies aren't female. A mature male...
A mature male Libellula luctuosa, aka “Widow Skimmer," perches on a bamboo stake in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A strong gust of wind pushed the widow skimmer's wings below its body. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of mature male Libellula luctuosa, aka “Widow Skimmer." This one was recently mated. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Exploring the Wonders of Insects--With a UC Davis Aboretum Talk and Tour
If you want to learn about insects, join entomologists Joel Hernandez and Melissa Cruz for their...
Entomologist Joel Hernandez led a butterfly tour last year at the UC Davis Arboretum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
For the Love of Bees
Sarah the Bee Girl stands in front of a cluster of first graders sitting by a six-foot worker bee...
First graders, school officials and parents from Peregrine School cluster around a bee sculpture at UC Davis Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee for a "Kids and Bees" program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sarah the Bee Girl reads a book about bees. In back are WAS members Cyndi and Jim Smith of Donney Lake, Wash. Cyndi serves as the secretary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sarah the Bee Girl outfits a first grader with a forager costume for correctly answering a question about foragers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After Sarah the Bee Girl (back) read a book about bees, she quizzed them, and those with the correct answers were given props depicting those bees. These youngsters represent (from left) a forager, a scout bee, a house bee, a nurse bee, the queen bee and a drone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Robbin Thorp (left), distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis, catches a bee with his device. A magnifying class enables the youngsters to see the bee up close. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Staff research associate Charley Nye, manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, staffed the bee habitat table. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Staff research associate Bernardo Niño of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr., Honey Bee Research Facility/UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, staffed the beewax table. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Zoe Anderson, a UC Davis undergraduate student majoring in animal biology, holds up a jar of honey bottled by Sarah the Bee Girl. Her bees foraged on vetch to produce this honey, which was the favorite of all the honeys tasted. Anderson staffed the honey-tasting table with WAS member Kari Hallopeter of Spokane, Wash. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's That Bee? How to Identify and Attract Native Bees to Your Garden
Have you ever seen a bee buzzing around your garden and wondered: "What's that bee?" Or have you...
A female ultra green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, on Coreopsis tinctora 'Mahogany.' (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) "the teddy bear bee" on germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A digger bee, a male Anthophora urbana, on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gathering of Beekeepers and a Gathering of Kids and Bees
Bee ready! This is the week of the 40th annual Western Apicultural Society's conference, set Sept....
This is a scene from one of the Bee Girl programs in southern Oregon. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Red-Laird)
Youngsters are awed by the bee display, part of Bee Girl Sarah Red-Laird's activities. This is a photo from a southern Oregon program. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Red-Laird)
"Bee Girl" Sarah Red-Laird shows youngsters a hive. However, at the Sept. 5th program at UC Davis, the first graders will not be opening a hive. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Red-Laird)