Backyard Orchard News
Red Alert!
Our yard is filled with such bee friendly plants as salvia, lavender, catmint and rock...
Honey bees gather around a hummingbird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of honey bee sipping a sugar-water mixture. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Late afternoon sun backlights a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Nature's Poetry
If you head over to the 137th annual Dixon May Fair, the state's oldest continuous fair,...
This butterfly painting, in the Fine Arts and Photography Building is the work of retired teacher Ethel Calvello of Dixon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Butterfly necklace by Marcella Segard of Fairfield is in the Interior Living Showcase Building. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This owl butterfly is from the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why Honey Bees Stop the (Waggle) Dancing
A honey bee foraging in a lavender patch encounters a jumping spider and narrowly avoids becoming...
Honey bee head-butts her dancing sister to warn of danger. (Photo Courtesy of James Nieh)
Jumping spider waiting for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
California Red Scale Degree Days Update
First generation California red scale crawlers emerge at 550 degree days (DD). As of Monday, Kern County had accumulated 483 DD, and so the crawlers will begin emerging next week. Tulare County accumulated 443 DD and crawlers should emerge in the next 10-14 days. Fresno and Madera crawlers will emerge after that. See my web site for graphs of the progress of the degree days and a comparison to the 30 year average (we are about a week later than normal). http://ucanr.org/sites/KACCitrusEntomology/Home/California_Red_Scale/Degree_Days_885/
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A Call from TED, Enough Said!
When TED extends an invite, that's a high honor.Scientists-artists Diane...
Diane Ullman is right at home as a scientist and an artist. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Artist-scientist Donna Billick with her sculpture of "Miss Bee Haven" at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)