Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay

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UC ANR is renovating its website. The Bug Squad blog, by Kathy Keatley Garvey of the University of California, Davis, is a daily (Monday-Friday) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008. It is about the wonderful world of insects and the entomologists who study them. Blog posts are archived at https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/archive.cfm

This wood duck box is being used as a bee hive in The Bee Sanctuary on the UC Davis campus. Examining it is Derek Downey who directs The Bee Collective and The Bee Sanctuary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Ducks Vs. Bees

December 10, 2013

In March of 2012 when we were touring The Bee Collective's Bee Sanctuary near The Domes on the UC Davis campus with beekeeper/manager Derek Downey, we remember seeing an unusual "bee hive"--a wood duck box, moved there from a rural location after swarming honey bees claimed it.

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Newly emerged Gulf Fritillary butterfly.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Trouble with Late Bloomers

December 9, 2013

It's rather troubling trying to rear subtropical butterflies, Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae), in late autumn. The string of warm sunny days in late November meant plenty of days for Gulf Frits to mate and reproduce.

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This honey bee was not aware of the "no fly" list; bees don't usually fly when the temperature is 49 degrees, but this one did. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Ah, Humbug!

December 6, 2013

It's no secret that bugs often get a bad rap. Take the negative expression, "Bah, Humbug!" uttered by Ebenezer Scrooge, a Charles Dickens character. Now it seems that everyone who dislikes Christmas says it, with an emphasis on "bug.

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A Bohart Museum volunteer at work. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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'The December Event' at the Bohart Museum of Entomology

December 5, 2013

They're calling it "The December Event." Because that's what it is. It's an event held in December, specifically Saturday, Dec. 7 from noon to 3 p.m.

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This image, "The Sting," drew $900 at the California State Beekeepers' Association auction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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When a Bee Sting Can Be Sweet

December 4, 2013

A bee sting can be sweet. Especially when the result is an auction item. Take the case of "The Sting," a memorable lunch-hour photo that went viral. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen and I were walking through the apiary of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

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