Backyard Orchard News
The Saga of the Defensive Honey Bees
The saga of the defensive honey bees--or what journalists labeled "aggressive" honey bees--in...
Honey bee guru Eric Mussen, now Extension apiculturist emeritus, opening a hive at UC Davis for a group tour. These are European honey bees, also called Western honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An Africanized bee collected in Mexico by Rob Page, former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is positioned next to a European honey bee. The EHB may have shrunk; the bees are considered non-distinguishable except through DNA tests. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Africanized Bees: How Far North?
Africanized honey bees arrived in southern California in 1994 and are expanding north. How far...
Collection of Africanized bee swarms can be an issue. These bees are European honey bees (not Africanized) that swarmed on the UC Davis North Hall/Dutton Hall complex in 2012. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Scientists are studying feral colonies for Africanized bee expansion. This photo was taken in 2011 in a Vacaville backyard; the European honey bee colony was a joy to the homeowner until its collapse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bumble Bees: Why They Thrive and Die
Remember the massive "buzz kill" in Wilsonville, Oregon back in June 2013 when more than 50,000...
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, exits a foxglove in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black-faced bumble bee, Bombus californicus, adjusting a heavy pollen load, visits "Purple Ginny" sage in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kearney was the site for an apiary inspector’s training on May 9, 2016.
Shannon Mueller, county director and agronomy farm advisor in UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Fresno County and Madera County, and Karen Francone, Environmental Program Manager, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), teamed up to provide an apiary inspectors' training at Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. According to the 2012-2014 CDPR progress report, “Bee health and protection is a state, national, and worldwide issue”.
In the meeting room, there were many examples of equipment, hive problems and diagnostic techniques available for viewing. The meeting room agenda included honey bee africanization; safety considerations during hive inspection; apiary pests and diseases; beekeeper pesticide usage; “toxic to Bees” label interpretations and managed pollinator protection plans; and an overview of bee incidence response.
Attendees also got the opportunity to go into the field for a smoker demonstration and hive visitation/colony strength evaluation and incident scenarios.
The overarching theme was to train the apiary inspectors so that CDPR, the County Ag Commissioners, UCCE, and beekeepers can continue to work together in finding strategies and technologies to help reduce bee colony deaths. The same training was delivered in Modesto the following week.
Red Admiral Challenging 'Gender Norms'
Think back to the first time you spotted a Red Admiral butterfly. You probably admired it and said...
A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) forages on Jupiter's Beard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Red Admiral butterfly hesitantly spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)