Posts Tagged: pollinator gardening
How to Attract Pollinators to Your Garden
It's a great topic. Horticulture experts at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden will join forces with the Yolo County Master Gardeners on Sunday, Sept. 24 to present a free workshop on "Pollinator Gardening." The event takes place from 10 a.m. to noon in the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on...
A monarch sips nectar from a tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male territorial long-horned bee targets a red admiral buttefly sipping nectar from a Mexican sunfower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male long-horned bee buzzes across a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey Bee Impostor
It's often mistaken for a honey bee. Indeed, to the untrained eye, the drone fly (Eristalis tenax) appears to be a bee. It's not; it's a fly. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, calls the drone fly "The H Bee." That's because there's an "H" on...
The drone fly, Eristalis tenax, is often mistaken for a bee. The fly has the letter "H" on its thorax. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
essie Brown, 14, a junior UC Master Gardener with the Lake Tahoe Master Gardeners, photographs insects in the ceanothus at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why Honey Bees Forage in California Poppies
When you see honey bees foraging on the California poppy, the state flower, they're not there for the nectar. They're there for the pollen. "California poppies provide only pollen--no nectar," native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, told the...
Two honey bees foraging on a California poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee with a pollen load. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollinator Workshop Review
On Saturday, March 14, the California Center for Urban Horticulture (CCUH) sponsored a Pollinator Gardening Workshop as part of their Sustainable Backyard series. Co-sponsors were the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Arboretum. Over 100 participants attended on a...
Best of Bodega: Bees Buzzing on Echium
The Pride of Maderia (Echium candicans) is blooming in the tiny Sonoma coastal community of Bodega. The purplish-blue spiked flowers attract honey bees, bumble bees and syrphid flies. And visitors. And photographers. The honey bees were buzzing all over the Echium last Sunday, Feb. 16, as were...
Honey bees foraging on the Pride of Madeira at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee targeting an Echium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)