Bug Squad

Honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr. is in good company. Good company, indeed. Think scientists Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin. Page, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1980 and then became a noted geneticist at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey loves flies. So, every chance I get, I shoot an image for him. Many of the images wind up in his classroom PowerPoint presentations. "Keep 'em coming," he says. So, I shoot flies. Yes, indeed. I shoot flies. No, I am not a candidate for a 12-step program.

Colony collapse disorder (CCD), the mysterious phenomonen characterized by honey bees abandoning their hives, is still with is, and the cause is still mysterious.

To catch a carpenter bee... The carpenter bees (Xylocopa tabaniformis) that nectar the sage, lavender, catmint and coral bells in our bee friendly garden move fast. How fast? As fast as a buzz. They buzz into a blur and then back into a buzz. Oh, but there are ways to capture their images.

If you like squash, you have a bee to thank. Without bees, no pollination. Without pollination, no squash. Honey bees in California pollinate some 100 agricultural crops, including fruits, nuts and vegetables. One of them is squash.