Bug Squad

The Sting. (c) Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Bug Squad blog, by Kathy Keatley Garvey of the University of California, Davis, is a daily (Monday-Friday) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008. It is about the wonderful world of insects and the entomologists who study them. Blog posts are archived at https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/index.cfm. The story behind "The Sting" is here: https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7735.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Primary Image
A HONEY BEE nectars a lemon cucumber blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

No Bees, No Cucumbers

July 23, 2009
Its the lemon law. When life hands you a lemon (cucumber), make honey. The lemon cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is an increasingly popular garden vegetable that doesn't look like your typical cucumber. The vegetable is round to oval in shape and is pale yellow to pale green in color.
View Article
Primary Image
CAUGHT IN THE ACT of nectaring lavender, a honey bee extends her tongue into the floral spikes. Lavender, a bee favorite, will be among the plants at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, scheduled to open Oct. 16. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Caught in the Act

July 22, 2009
You may not know about Lavandula "Goodwin Creek Gray" but the honey bees do. They love lavender. That's one of the plants selected for the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden being implemented near the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.
View Article
Primary Image
BUTTERFLIES abound at the Solano County Fair. Here assistant fair manager Chad Cabral (left) and Elisa Seppa, superintendent of McCormack Hall, look over a butterfly decoration. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Nature Meets Art

July 21, 2009
Butterflies, dragonflies, ladybugs and honey bees. What exists in nature is replicated in art. We sculpt them, draw them and paint them. We create their images on everything from clothing and jewelry to quilts and stepping stones.
View Article
Primary Image
CARNIOLAN HONEY BEE, a dark bee, is drenched from falling into a swimming pool. She is magnum black. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Gone Fishin'

July 20, 2009
It's not just two-legged humans that take a dip in the pool. So do six-legged honey bees searching for water. When temperatures soar, honey bees scramble to collect water for their colony. They release droplets of water in the hive as their hardworking sisters fan their wings to "cool it.
View Article
Primary Image
THIS GNAT-SIZED insect with a red abdomen is a female cuckoo sweat bee from the genus Sphecodes. Fished out of a swimming pool, it is crawling around on a net. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Seeing Red

July 17, 2009
Its triple-digit hot and youre relaxing in a swimming pool when suddenly you realize you have company. A knat-sized insect with a red abdomen lands next to you. It looks like a wasp. No, it looks like a bee.
View Article