It was a great day to learn about bees. The weather cooperated, the bees buzzed, and 632 people looked for the queen in the bee observation hive, wandered through the garden, and admired the art.
And they took home seed cookies to plant at home.
The occasion: The UC Davis Bee Haven open house, part of the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. The Haven, a half-acre pollinator demonstration garden installed by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) in the fall of 2009, drew all ages, from babies to senior citizens.
Located at 1 Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the Haven thrives with more than 200 native plants.
As noted on its website: "The UC Davis Bee Haven is a half-acre garden that serves as a hub for education, research, and inspiration, and helping individuals create pollinator-friendly spaces. Whether you have a small backyard, a balcony garden, or a larger landscape, you can cultivate a thriving habitat for bees and other pollinators. The garden is here to guide and inspire your journey, providing the knowledge and resources to plan your own pollinator oasis."
Samantha Murray, the education and garden coordinator of The Haven, and Kian Nikzad, co-program manager of the California Master Beekeeper Program, answered questions about bees, pointing out the queen, workers and drones in the bee observation hive. They discussed pollination and why it matters. They displayed beekeeping tools and why they are necessary. They showed mini-models of bees and their enemies, including the varroa mite, a parasitic mite known as "Beekeeping Enemy No. 1."
Visitors took images of the 6-foot-long worker bee, "Miss Bee Haven," a mosaic-ceramic sculpture that anchors the garden. It's the work of self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick, co-founder and former co-director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program. Visitors marveled at all the bee and floral art created by ENT students in courses taught by UC Davis Distinguished Professor (now emerita) Diane Ullman, the co-founder and co-director (now emerita) of the Art/Science Fusion Program.
The garden attracts scores of pollinators, from honey bees and native bees to butterflies. Native bees? UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Robbin Thorp (1933-2019) detected and identified more than 80 native bees in the garden. California alone is home to 1600 species of native bees.
Director of The Haven is bee scientist Elina Niño, professor of Cooperative Extension, apiculture; a member of the ENT faculty; and founding director of the California Master Beekeeper Program.
When is it open? From dusk to dawn. How much is admission? Admission is free. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, donate, or register for group tours--contact beehaven@ucdavis.edu.
The Haven is "heaven on earth" for the pollinators and for the people who visit.
