Bug Squad

The joy of the season strikes a chord. When bees slip out of their California hives during winter sun breaks, they often head over to mallow blossoms to grab some nectar and pollen.

They've got your back. And your bees. The declining honey bee population now has 52 more friends. Science-based friends. Bee ambassadors. Partners.

It may be extinct, but don't say the "E" word to Robbin Thorp. Thorp, a noted bumble bee expert, hasn't seen Franklin's bumble bee for 10 years, but that doesn't mean it's not there--somewhere in its small native range of southern Oregon and northern California.

Have you ever wondered who's behind the veil? The bee veil, that is. If you enroll in a beekeepers' course at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, one of the instructors you're likely to meet is Charley Nye, manager of the facility.

Confessions of a Backyard Beekeeper. That's the title of a piece by former-Davis-mayor-turned-beekeeper Ann M. Evans in the newly published Ipinion Syndicate book, Cats, Dogs and Other Things that Poop in the Yard. "Here's what I know about honeybees," she began.