Bug Squad

Robber at work. No, this isn't a bank heist or a gas station hold-up or a home invasion. A carpenter bee is slitting the sides of salvia (sage) to steal the nectar. Floral larceny! Book 'em, Danno! Carpenter bees are nectar robbers.

It's a mighty mite and it's causing beekeepers fits. The varroa mite (see photo below) is an external parasite that attacks honey bees. It sucks blood from the adults (apparently preferring drones, the male bees) and from the brood (immature bees).

Okay, be honest. If you were attending class at 7:30 a.m., could you get excited about flies? No? How about the gender differences? Still no? You would if Mary Frances Fran Keller were there teaching you. You won't find anyone more enthusiastic about entomology than Fran Keller.

He didn't bring her flowers. They were already sharing a sunflower leaf. He didn't bring her candy. They'd already dined on nectar. It was Labor Day and the two crane flies looked quite friendly in our bee friendly garden. More than friendly. I think they were in love.

Bam! LBAM is back in the news. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced Aug. 29 that it has established a 19-square-mile quarantine straddling portions of two counties after the light brown apple moth (LBAM) was found July 23 in Napa County and Aug. 10 in Sonoma County.