Bug Squad

There's a waiting list for Susan Cobey's specialized bee classes at the University of California,Davis. That says a lot about the demand for bee stock improvement and for Cobey's teachings. Cobey, bee breeder-geneticist at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

Zombies! What do you think of when someone says "zombies?" Students sitting inattentively in class? A souless body? Or a honey bee infested with parasitic flies? A Zombie, according to Wikipedia, is a term used "to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft.

If you let your bok choy go to seed, what a treat for the honey bees. The mild unseasonable weather and blooming bok choy--perfect for foraging honey bees searching for food in January. Mother Nature may fool them. Bok choy does not.

It all started with Robert Kimsey's fly research on Alcatraz Island.

The names are delightful. There's a fairy moth named Adela thorpella. Its namesake: native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. Who wouldn't want to be Adela thorpella? The name just rolls off the tongue.