Agriculture

A major citrus pest may experience a Bah, Humbug! kind of year.

Moths, a magnificent microscope (scanning electron microscope) and friendly scientists--what could be better than that? How about free hot chocolate, herbal tea and cookies? The Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday night, July 22, promises to be a fun and educational event.

The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, will celebrate National Moth Week on Saturday night, July 22 with an indoor-and-outdoor open house featuring blacklighting; moth displays including the Trump moth, and free refreshments of hot chocolate and cookies.

The University of California, Davis, prides itself on teaching, research and public service. A few faculty members excel at all three (they're called triple threats) and distinguished professor James R. Carey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is one of them.

They are two who make a difference. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology, received the 2015 Distinguished Emeritus Award and Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor of entomology, received an Edward A.

"Where do bees get red pollen?" we were asked. "We've seen bees packing blood-red pollen at the entrance to a hive." Well, one flower that yields red pollen is rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora). It's a drought-tolerant perennial, a succulent.

Lots of youngsters received teddy bears as holiday gifts. But native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, received a teddy bear, too. Of sorts.

What's that? When award-winning photographer Teresa Willis of Vacaville encountered a red caterpillar on a dirt road at about 6000 feet in a canyon north of Paradise Valley, Nev., she did what photographers do--she captured an image of it.

That old saying, "Be all you can be," should be changed to "Bee all you can bee.

It's a honey of a book. Honey bee expert Norman Gary, emeritus professor of apiculture at the University of California, Davis, is the author of a newly published book on beginning beekeeping titled Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees.