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LinkedInPosts Tagged: First Bumble Bee of the Year Contest
UC Davis Arboretum Is the Magical Place to Find the First-of-the-Year Bumble Bee
If history repeats itself, the person who finds and photographs the first bumble bee of the year in the two-county area of Yolo and Solano will do so in the 100-acre UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden--or will find it foraging on a plant purchased from one of the Arboretum's...
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, forages on Eryngium amethystinum, a genus that belongs to the carrot family, Apiaceae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, nectaring on ceanothus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
In Search of the First Bumble Bee of the Year
What are you doing on New Year's Day? Well, weather permitting, you can begin searching for the first bumble bee of the year in the two-county area of Yolo and Solano. If you photograph it and you are judged the winner, a prize awaits you--in addition to bragging rights. The third annual Robbin...
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosenenskii, foraging on oxalis near the Benicia State Capitol grounds on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee and a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosenenskii, foraging on oxalis near the Benicia State Capitol grounds on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, foraging on rosemary on Jan. 25, 2020 on the grounds of the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, foraging on a rose on Jan. 25, 2020 in downtown Benicia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Buzz Behind the UC Davis Bumble Bee Contest
The Bohart Museum of Entomology generated a lot of buzz when it sponsored its second annual "Robbin Thorp Memorial First-Bumble-Bee-of-the-Year Contest." The open-to-the-public competition involved searching for the first-of-the-year bumble bee in the two-county area of Yolo or Solano;...
This is the image of Bombus vosnesenskii that Ellen Zagory captured in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
This is the cell phone image of Bombus melanopygus that Maureen Page took in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
The late UC Davis professor, Robbin Thorp, shown here with an image he took of the endangered Franklin's bumble bee, always looked forward to finding the first bumble bee of the year.
Game On! Find and Photograph the First Bumble Bee of the Year
Game on! If you're thinking about taking a walk in Yolo or Solano counties to celebrate the new year--or just to get some exercise in keeping with your New Year's Resolution (you did make one, didn't you?)--bring your camera. You might find and photograph the first bumble bee of the year in a...
A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, nectaring on nectarine blossoms in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why Bumble Bee Expert Robbin Thorp Would Have Been Proud
Robbin Thorp would have been proud of what happened on Thursday, Jan. 14. When the UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology, a global authority on bumble bees, died June 7, 2019 at age 85, scientists found a way to memorialize him and what he loved. The Bohart Museum of...
This manzanita plant at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, near Old Davis Road, is where UC Davis postdoctoral researcher Charlie Nicholson captured an image of the first bumble bee of the year. (Photo by Charlie Nicholson)
In this 2015 Bee Course class photo, Charlie Nicholson (top, far left) holds the sign. In the second row, far left, is co-instructor Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology. Nicholson is the winner of the inaugural Robbin Thorp Memorial First-Bumble-Bee-of-the-Year Contest, sponsored by the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo courtesy of The Bee Course)
The Bee Course instructors in 2013 included (from left) Laurence Packer, York University, Toronto; Terry Griswold, USDA Bee Lab, Logan, Utah; Steve Buchmann, Tucson, Ariz.; Robbin Thorp, UC Davis, John Ascher, University of Singapore; Jim Cane, USDA Bee Lab, Logan, Utah; and Eli Wyman, American Museum of Natural History, N.Y. Not pictured course leader Jerome Rozen, American Museum of Natural History. (Photo courtesy of The Bee Course)
