Posts Tagged: Sonoma
Those Bumble Bee Mimics at Bodega Head
If you've ever been to Bodega Head in Sonoma County, you may have marveled at the waves crashing and the whales surfacing. But have you ever seen the digger bees, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, aka bumble bee mimics, that nest in the sandstone...
A digger bee, bumble bee mimic Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, warming its flight muscles on Bodega Head on May 9, 2022. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two insects on one wildradish blossom: a fly and a digger bee, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, at Bodega Head on May 9, 2022. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, in flight at Bodega Head on May 9, 2022. The flower is a wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A bumble bee mimic, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, sipping nectar from a wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum, on May 9, 2022 on Bodega Head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Archived photo of nests of Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana on the sandstone cliffs, Bodega Head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Master Beekeeper Cheryl Veretto: She Loved Bees, Plants and People
Cheryl Veretto was the first to step forward. She and 51 other beekeepers had gathered that day in September 2016 at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis to undergo testing to become California Master Beekeepers at the apprentice level. The UC...
Cheryl Veretto was first in line to take the California Master Beekeeper Program practical test administered in September 2016. With her is UC Davis research associate Charley Nye, CAMBP examiner and manager of the Laidlaw facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
With their veils off in this portion of the CAMBP practical test, examiner Charley Nye watches Cheryl Veretto finish the last steps of her test. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Cheryl Veretto's Facebook page.
The Bees of Bodega Head
There's more to Sonoma County's Bodega Head than the stunning views, crashing waves, nesting seabirds, and bursts of flora and fauna. The sand cliffs are also the home of a digger bee, a bumble bee mimic known as Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana. "The species name...
A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, returning to her nest on the sand cliffs of Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, edges closer to her nest on the sand cliffs of Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A bee-ant encounter: The digger bee, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, encounters an ant, Formica transmontanis, as identified by ant specialists Phil Ward and Brendon Boudinot of UC Davis. Both species nest on the sand cliffs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, excavating a nest on the sand cliffs of Bodega Head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Four digger bees, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, appear in this image at Bodega Head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A view from Bodega Head. Most tourists are unaware of the digger bees that inhabit the sand cliffs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ever Seen a Coronavirus-Equipped Mantis?
Sometimes you just have to display your sense of humor. Take the case of a huge praying mantis sculpture that anchors the Davis, Calif., front yard of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. It's a coronoavirus-equipped mantis, complete with...
This is the coronavirus-equipped mantis that's drawing lots of smiles in the Davis front yard of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of UC Davis. (Photo by Lynn Kimsey)
A praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, watches a honey bee buzz her head in the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden, Sonoma Cornerstone, Sonoma. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Case of Survival of the Flittest
If you visit the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden at Sonoma Cornerstone--and you should, especially during National Pollinator Week--you'll see honey bees, bumble bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, among other pollinators. Today we spotted a male monarch patrolling the milkweed in search of a...
Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, nectaring on verbena in the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden, Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, heads for more nectar in the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden, Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Caught in flight: a Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, in the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden, Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)