Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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See the ceramic hive on this sign at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility? The black hole leads to a real hive, located in back of the sign. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Secret's Out

October 3rd, 2008
The secret's out. Or, rather, the secret's in. Inside. A number of years ago, UC Davis entomologist Diane Ullman created a ceramic sign outside the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, located on Bee Biology Road, west of the UC Davis campus.
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A honey bee checks out a minute black scavenger fly at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Bee and the Fly

October 2nd, 2008
UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey is a genius, to be sure. Show him a fly and he'll tell you exactly what it is and what it's all about. I shot this photo at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. The honey bee looked huge and the fly, tiny.
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The honey bee, resplendent here with silvery wings, is gold to the global economy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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What Price Pollination?

October 1st, 2008
What are insect pollinators worth to the global economy? Well, it's a lot less than the Wall Street bailout...er...rescue plan. Recent research published in the journal Ecological Economics reveals just how important insect pollinators are.
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A ladybug crawls along the leaf of a Russian sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Seeing Spots

September 30th, 2008
If you spot a ladybug, don't just start reciting "Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home." Aim, click and shoot. With a camera, that is. Agricultural Research Service scientists and entomologists at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
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A honey bee can't wait for the Calandrinia grandiflora to open. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Heaven Can Wait

September 29th, 2008
They danced in it, rolled in it, and bathed in it. The honey bees just couldn't get enough of the rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora). Last week when we visited Vacaville's El Rancho Nursery and Landscaping. nursery, owned by Ray and Maria Lopez, it was like a free-for-all at the French Laundry.
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