Bug Squad

Those blood-sucking varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are considered the No. 1 enemy of beekeepers. In powerful numbers and weakened colonies, they can overwhelm and collapse a hive. We remember seeing a varroa mite attached to a foraging honey bee one warm summer day in our pollinator garden.

So you want to learn more about almond pollination, integrated crop pollination, blue orchard bees, navel orangeworms, wildflower plantings and solarization for wildflpwer planting success. You're in luck.

A United Nations' organization today issued a global pollinator health report and the news was not good.

Imagine you're a tardigrade, aka water bear or moss piglet. You're microscopic but you're nearly indestructible. You can survive being heated to 304 degrees Fahrenheit or being chilled for days at -328 F. And if you're frozen for 30 years, you can still reproduce.

Medical entomologists are learning more and more about Aedes aegypti, the daytime-biting mosquito that prefers human blood. The mosquito transmits the Zika virus, currently "the" hot medical topic. But it also transmits dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya viruses. Especially dengue.