Bug Squad

You gotta love those ladybugs. Ladybugs, aka ladybeetles (family Coccinellidae), are best known for devouring aphids, those pesky little critters that suck plant juices. But have you ever seen ladybugs gobbling ants? There's a three-way predator-prey relationship here.

The wild roses planted last fall in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis, are both "heaven sent" and "heaven scent." The fragrance is delightful.

It's rare for any one person to serve five terms as president of an organization. But such is the case with Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, who took the helm of the Western Apicultural Society for five terms.

Honey bees have a "choke hold" on artichokes. They absolutely love flowering artichokes. Take the artichokes blooming in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. Sometimes 10 or 15 bees try to gather on a single blossom.

It's fun seeing little children sharing a cone...an ice cream cone. But have you ever seen a bumble bee and honey bee sharing a cone (coneflower)? Such was the case this morning at the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, the half-acre bee friendly garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.