Backyard Orchard News
Autumn's Majesty: Tithonia
If there's any flower that should be crowned "Autumn's Majesty," that would be the Mexican...
A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, lands on a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
In a sea of nearly spent Mexican sunflowers, a lone migrating monarch, Danaus plexippus, finds food. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, takes a liking to the Tithonia, aka Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A skipper, family Hesperiidae, hangs out on the Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The wings of a black hover fly or syrphid, aka "Mexican cactus fly" (Copestylum mexicanum), gleam in the sunlight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Predators hang out on the Mexican sunflower, too. A crab spider, family Thomisidae, waits for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why This UC Davis Course Is Sweet
"The bee hive is the ultimate home sweet home," Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and...
Home is where the bees are. A beekeeper at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honeycomb: "The bee hive is the ultimate home sweet home," says Amina Harris, director of the Honey and Pollination Center. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Amazing Bee-Parasite Research of Leslie Saul-Gershenz
Evolutionary ecologist Leslie Saul-Gershenz goes places where many have been but few have ever...
Leslie Saul-Gershenz in the Channel Island National Park conducting a native bee survey.
Leslie Saul-Gershenz doing field work on bee nesting beds of the solitary bee, Nomia melanderi, in Walla Walla, Wash. (2010-2015).
A digger bee, Habropoda pallida, with blister beetle larvae. (Photo by Leslie Saul-Gershenz)
Why Friday the 13th Is Not an Unlucky Day
Friday the 13th is not an unlucky day--not when migratory monarchs make a pit stop at your home on...
A male monarch nectaring on tropical milkweed on Friday the 13th in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch spreads its wings on a tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Thank a Farmer, Thank a Beekeeper
You may have missed it, but today (Thursday, Oct. 12) is National Farmers' Day. The day originated...
Two honey bees want the same pomegranate blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee pollinating an apple blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A new beekeeper examines a frame during a UC Davis honey bee course at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño and her staff teach classes for the public. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)