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What Attracts Bees to Blossoms? A Surprising Discovery by UC Davis Ecologist Rachel Vannette

A honey bee heads toward a lupine blossom. It's not just the nectar she's scented. UC Davis community ecologist Rachel Vannette has just published a paper in New Phytologist journal that shows nectar-living microbes release scents or volatile compounds, too, and can influence a pollinator's foraging preference. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

You're watching honey bees foraging in a field. They buzz toward a blossom, sip nectar, and...

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Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 5:00 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Tags: honey bees (3), microbes (2), nectar (6), New Phytologist (1), Rachel Vannette (2), UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (1), USDA-ARS (1)

Surprising Research Results: What the Microbes in Nectar Revealed

Researchers studied the microbes in the nectar of the sticky monkeyflower, Mimulus auranticus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's surprising what the microbes in nectar can reveal. Take the nectar of the sticky...

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Posted on Monday, June 12, 2017 at 5:03 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Tags: Anna''s hummingbird (1), bumble bees (1), Ecology Letters (1), microbes (2), nectar (6), Rachel Vannette (2), Stanford University (1), sticky monkeyflower (1), Tadashi Fukami (1), UC Davis (1)

What a Stretch to Get the Nectar!

A honey bee

How often do you see a honey bee "standing upright" to reach nectar? "Well, I guess I could just...

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Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 5:52 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Tags: honey (1), honey bees (3), nectar (6), Photinia (1), stretch (1), UC Davis Picnic Day (1), worker bees (1)

Sharing the Nectar--But Not All at the Same Time

A syrphid fly (bottom right) heads toward a Mexican sunflower occupied by a honey bee. The fly, aka hover fly and flower fly, wants some nectar, too.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Everybody eats in the pollinator garden. Maybe not at the same time, but they all eat. We noticed...

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Posted on Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 4:36 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Tags: drone fly (1), Halloween (1), honey bee (1), insects (1), Mexican sunflower (1), nectar (6), syrphid fly (1), Tithonia (1)

When Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Cherry Laurels)

A backlit honey bee, its tongue or proboscis extended, heads for cherry laurel blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's definitely a bee friendly plant, packed with nectar and pollen. The cherry laurel, Prunus...

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Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 4:27 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Tags: cherry laurel (1), Eric Mussen (1), Extension apiculturist (1), honey bees (3), nectar (6), pollen (1), Prunus caroliniana (1)

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