Backyard Orchard News
'Bee Man' Norm Gary Featured at WAS Conference at UC Davis
Honey bees intrigue, delight and fascinate Norman Gary. In fact, they have for 70 years. Seven...
'Bee Man' Norm Gary is surrounded by bees as he is about to perform a bee wrangling stunt. He is now retired from bee wrangling. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Make Mine the Monarch
The National Geographic just ran a piece titled "Without Bugs, We Might All Be Dead." "There are...
A longhorn bee, probably a Melissodes agilis, targets a monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Targeted by male territorial bees, a monarch takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Tiger by the Tail
One of Buck Owens' signature songs that never failed to please his fan base was "I Got a Tiger by...
A longhorn bee, probably Melissodes agilis, has this "tiger" (Western tiger swallowtail) by the tail. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Territorial male longhorn bees are targeting a Western tiger swallowtail as it's trying to sip some nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This Western tiger swallowtail, targeted by male longhorn bees, takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why Turning 40 Is a Bee-Boggling Event: Western Apicultural Society's Big Conference
Turning 40 can be mind-boggling. But it will be bee-boggling--all bee-boggling--when the Western...
Pointing out the queen bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Professor emeritus Norm Gary, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, kneels by his bee wrangling cluster. He spearheaded the founding of the Western Apicultural Society. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Let Us Prey!
Everybody eats in the pollinator garden. Everybody. The pollinators in our garden in Vacaville,...
A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata (as identified by Andrew Pfeifer) clings to a showy milkweed leaf as she dines on a longhorn bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis is a cunning predator. The score: praying mantis: 1. Longhorn bee: 0. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Nature's way; praying mantis devours her meal. The longhorn bee, probably a Melissodes agilis, erred in flying too close to the predator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After her meal, the praying mantis climbs toward the top of the milkweed to look for more "meal movement." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)