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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Sonoma
A Very Hungry Bumble Bee
She was all bees-ness, this yellow-faced queen bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. There she was, foraging in a bed of steely blue-purple flowers, Eryngium amethystinum, a genus that belongs to the carrot family, Apiaceae. A native bee on a non-native plant. It...
Can you spot the bumble bee in this bed of Eryngium amethystinum in the Sunset Gardens, Sonoma Cornerstone? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This image shows the characteristic yellow face and yellow stripe on the abdomen of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. She is nectaring Eryngium amethystinum, in the Sunset Gardens at Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
With her long proboscis, B. vosnesenskii sips nectar from an Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the yellow face of the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bombus vosnesenskii moves around the Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bye, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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)
