Posts Tagged: The Sting
Did You Miss the UC Davis-Based COVID-19 Symposium?
If you missed the UC Davis-based Third COVID-19 Symposium, headlined by Dr. Robert Gallo, not to worry. You can view it on YouTube at https://youtu.be/O4L0OHcZ5Mk Focusing primarily on vaccines, it was broadcast Wednesday, June 3 on both Zoom and YouTube. UC Davis distinguished professor...
Dr. Robert Gallo discussed vaccines at the UC Davis-based COVID-19 Symposium on June 3. (Screen shot)
Honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr. offered his comments on whether bee sting therapy could be a treatment for COVID-19 patients. (Screen shot)
Why Dead Bees Can Sting
Can dead bees sting? Yes, they can. Here's the scenario: Our pollinator garden is buzzing with the sights and sounds of honey bees. Ah, spring! A few feet away, California scrub jays are nesting in the cherry laurel hedges. They leave periodically to gather food for their young. Dozens of...
A California scrub jay nails a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The California scrub jay decapitates the honey bee, avoiding the abdomen with the stinger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is what was left of the honey bee from the photos above. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
On UC Davis Picnic Day, scrub jays had a picnic of their own in the author's yard, decapitating honey bees, and leaving behind the abdomens. Note the stingers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'The Sting' Revisited
Photographers are frustrated, and rightfully so, with all the thievery on the Internet. Like many other photos, "The Sting," is being used illegally for commercial purposes. It's appeared on sites like PhotoBucket where unscrupulous people sell it as canvas prints and holiday cards. It's...
The Sting: A bee stings the wrist of Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen. That's the abdominal tissue trailing. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'The Sting' now has a life of its own and many are using it for their own commercial purposes: to profit from a photo that is not theirs.
Why Do Honey Bees Die When They Sting
"Why do honey bees die when they sting?" That's the question PBS Newshour asked Extension apiculturist (retired) Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology for its "Just Ask" feature. Mussen, who retired in June after 38 years of service but continues to maintain...
A honey bee embeds its stinger in the wrist of Eric Mussen and then tries to pull away. Note the abdominal tissue trailing. (This is an actual photo of a bee sting; it was not posed.) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The bee has pulled away to die, leaving the stinger and abdominal tissue behind. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Stink Bugs Do It, Too!
"Birds do it," sang Ella Fitzgerald. "Bees do it..." "Even educated" (insert "stink bugs") "do it." But she didn't sing that; that wasn't part of Cole Porter's lyrics. But it's true. Stink bugs do it. Unfortunately. We'd rather they NOT. These shield-shaped insects feed on such crops as...
Red-shouldered stink bugs mating. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Stink bug laying eggs on a guara stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of stink bug eggs on a guara stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)