UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr., Honey Bee Research Facility, is the kind of person who would give you the shirt off her back. Really. And that's exactly what she did when several visitors recently toured the Laidlaw facility.

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POLLEN-PACKING bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii), the most common California bumble bee, buzzes a flower in the Storer Gardens, UC Davis Arboretum. This photo was taken July 13, 2008. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Where Have All the Bumble Bees Gone?

June 15th, 2009

The Smithsonian Institution is the place to "bee" on Monday, June 22. UC Davis pollinator specialist and researcher Robbin Thorp will join other bumble bee experts from across the country in a "Plight of the Bumble Bees" public symposium from 10 a.m.

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GOLDEN BULLET--really a queen yellowjacket--(see far left) heads for a honeycomb held by bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. Beekeepers know that when they open a hive, a predatory yellowjacket with a voracious appetite for honey and bees may be in the vicinity. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Faster Than a Speeding...

June 12th, 2009

Faster than a speeding bullet... As soon as UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey opened a beehive and removed a chunk of honeycomb to show visitors, here came the speeding bullet. A fast camera shutter caught what the eye couldn't see. It was a queen yellowjacket taking dead aim at the comb.

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HONEY BEE, packed with pollen, nectars flowers in the UC Davis Arboretum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley)

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Wazzup Aug. 17-20? WAS!

June 11th, 2009

WAS is not just the first and third person singular past indicative of be. It's the Western Apicultural Society, an organization dedicated to the science and art of rearing honey bees. You'll find scores of commericial beekeepers at the 31st annual WAS Conference, scheduled Aug.

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A honey bee works a pomegranate blossom, while another bee moves in right behind her. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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A Beeline for the Pomegranates

June 10th, 2009

Youre not going to be able to jump on the pomegranate bandwagon with your pockets bulging with gold without a lot of hard work, Kevin Day, farm advisor with UC Cooperative Extension Tulare County, told a reporter for a news story published May 14 in the Western Farm Press. Yes, hard work.

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