2025: Celebrating a Year of Bloom, Stewardship and Growing Community Impact
"This year at the UC Davis Bee Haven, the garden blossomed with vibrant growth and renewal, reflected not only in the flourishing landscape but also in the increasing engagement and enthusiasm of the many visitors discovering its rich offerings. Under the dedicated direction of our Garden Coordinator and Bee Haven Team, our haven has thrived horticulturally while becoming a beloved educational destination through strategic planning, devoted maintenance, and a deep commitment to pollinator stewardship."
So reads the 2025 executive summary of the UC Davis Bee Haven.
The Haven is the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's half-acre demonstration garden, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus.
The garden, open daily to the public from dawn to dusk (no admission fee), is an educational resource for the public to learn about bees and other pollinators, and the flowers they visit. The Department of Entomology and Nematology, under the direction of then interim chair Lynn Kimsey (now UC Davis distinguished professor emerita) installed the bee garden in the fall of 2009.
Director of The Haven
Director of The Haven is bee scientist Elina Niño, professor of UC Cooperative Extension, Apiculture, and a member of the faculty of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. She is also the founder and director of the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP).
Niño leads the team, comprised of Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator; Joe Tauzer, manager of the Laidlaw facility; and Wendy Mather and Kian Nikzad, co-program managers of CAMBP.
Among the new facility enhancements completed in 2025: repainting of the garden shed, installation of new picnic tables, and revitalization of the educational area "to enhance our focus on pollination education," the report relates. "These visual and structural upgrades have transformed the garden into a vibrant, family-friendly space where pollination, ecology, and community joy thrive together."
"We also expanded our produce plantings by adding tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and watermelons to emphasize the vital connection between pollinator health and food systems. This living demonstration helps visitors understand that pollinators are essential to the food we eat every day." (See more)
Miss Bee Haven, a six-foot-long ceramic and mosaic worker bee sculpture by Donna Billick, anchors the garden. You'll see some 200 different species of native plants; native bee art on the garden shed; and off in a corner, bee hives with live bees (fenced off but visible to the public).
Prominently displayed near the entrance is the mission of The Haven: "The Haven is a unique outdoor museum that provides resources for local bee pollinators, inspires and educates visitors to create pollinator habitat gardens, and provides a site for the observation and study of bees and the plants that support them."
Art in the Garden
The art in the garden? Students in a UC Davis entomology class, "Art, Science and the World of Insects," taught by UC Davis Distinguished Professor (now emerita) Diane Ullman contributed the art in the garden, along with the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, co-founded and co-directed by Ullman and Billick.
The UC Davis Bee Haven staff leads tours as part of its community outreach programs. (See a recap of the Vacaville Museum Guild tour here.) Contact beehaven@ucdavis.edu for more information or to subscribe to its newsletter.
Mark your calendar: The UC Davis Bee Haven will be part of the campuswide 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 21. The event, also known as a Super Science Day, is free and family friendly. The Haven will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Among those presenting talks at BioDiv Day are Samantha "Sam" Murray, The Haven's education and garden coordinator.
Side note: Even in the dead of winter, sometimes you'll see a pollinator, such as this mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis (cover photo), that crawled out from beneath the warmth of the native bee hotel or "bee condo" on Dec. 27. Earlier this year, leafcutter bees deposited their eggs in the drilled holes of the wood blocks. In the spring, a new generation of leafcutter bees will emerge.
