Bug Squad

How do bumble bees plan their route to find the most rewarding flowers in the shortest distance? That "is a mathematical puzzle which has vexed academics and traveling salesmen alike," according to an article in the June 29th edition of Science Daily.

If you're gearing up for the Fourth of July weekend, you'll probably head to the farmers' market, a roadside stand, or the produce department of your favorite grocery store for some freshly picked strawberries. And you can thank a honey bee if your berry is fully formed.

Male squash bees know just where to sleep--inside a squash blossom. If you're growing squash and you head out to your garden just after sunrise, you'll probably see the males fast asleep, waiting for visiting females to arrive.

If it looks like a bee, sips nectar like a bee, and buzzes away like a bee, that doesn't mean it's a bee. Last weekend we visited a Fort Bragg nursery specializing in succulents, and these "little white bees" were all over the red flowering thyme (Thymus serphyllum). "Little white bees.

Not all bumble bees are primarily black. Take the Bombus flavifrons. We spotted a male Bombus flavifrons nectaring on Centaurea montana, aka perennial cornflower or mountain cornflower, recently in Mill Valley.