Bug Squad

Oh, the fun-loving, sun-loving cosmos. A native of Mexico and a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae, this plant brightens many a garden, attracting such pollinators as honey bees, bumble bees, sweat bees, hover flies and butterflies.

If you like community gardens, then you'll want to visit the Avant Garden at the corner of First and D streets in Benicia. The Benicia Community Garden (BCG) signed a lease agreement in the fall of 2010 with Estey Real Estate to establish a downtown community garden.

If you plant a bottlebrush in your yard, you'll experience a brush with kindness. This time of year there's not much food for honey bees to eat. Bottlebrush, in the genus Callistemon and family Myrtaceae, fits the bill. We captured this image Oct.

There's no doubt about it. Honey bee guru Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology since 1976 and an upcoming retiree, will be "roasted" at the California State Beekeepers' Association conference, to be held Nov 19-21 at Lake Tahoe, Nev.

"What's wrong with my bees?" That's a question frequently asked of Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Fact is, he's an "unbee-lievable" wealth of information.