With spring arriving and fruit trees starting to open their buds, it is time to think about pollinators. Among the first to visit my orchard are the mason bees (genus Osmia), often considered the best general pollinators, delivering much more pollen from flower to flower than honey bees. Mason bees are extremely efficient pollinators because […]
bees
Posted inHumboldt Nature
The Queen Bee’s Winter Visit
When gardening, you have probably seen large, fuzzy, yellow and black bumble bees zipping from flower to flower, collecting pollen and nectar to bring back to their nests. Perhaps you have also seen them in January or February and wondered what business a bee has flying around in winter. Nearly all the approximately 1,600 bee […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Look Closely, It’s Crab Spider Season
What do you see in this photo? A bumble bee. A small brown spider. White flowers. Look closely: There’s a large crab spider front and center. If you have a garden, you may be familiar with the goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia), which is commonly seen on flowers from late spring through early fall on […]
Posted inNews
California Poised to Restrict Bee-killing Pesticides
Widely used insecticides that harm bees and songbirds would face far-reaching restrictions in California under regulations proposed by the state’s pesticide agency. The new limits would be among the nation’s most extensive for agricultural use of neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides used to kill plant-damaging pests like aphids. The highly potent pesticides have been shown […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Early Spring Pollinators
Spring is on the way. I saw my first trillium bloom of the year, and the daffodils and stone fruit trees are in full bloom. The last few sunny days have brought forth pollinators. I think it’s kind of a chicken-and-egg problem. The flowers get pollinated by bugs. If the flowers aren’t open the insects […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: New Dragon, Bold Patterns and Teeny Bees
A walk along the Van Duzen River on a warm, sunny day can produce some surprises. Today I spotted a dragonfly which is new to my “life list” (a term I’ve adopted from my birding friends). Libellula pulchella, the 12 spotted skimmer. Named for the total number of black spots on their wings, they are […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Who’s Hungry?
Deadly Darlingtonias About two hours north of Eureka on State Route 199, a few miles past Gasquet, a small sign announces, “Botanical Trail.” It’s a very short drive on a good gravel road to the parking area. A little walk on the well-marked trail puts you in the middle of a Darlingtonia Bog. Here, where […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Dining Out in June
The fifth of June invited me to take my favorite stroll along the Van Duzen River. Things are at last heating up in the insect world. While I was checking out some daisies, a shadow flitted past me. It was member of the well-known migratory dragonfly species, the common green darner (Anax junius). This is […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: A Walk in the Woods
When I looked out today the sun was shining and the bugs were out. I set my computer and camera to acquire a stack of photos of a snail hunting beetle I’d collected on a late night walk, and out the door I went. I managed to identify four different species of butterfly and the […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: A Patch of Daisies
Driving along U.S. Highway 101 lately, you see patches of newly emerging ox-eye daisies (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum). As idyllic as they might seem from a distance, there’s a lot going on up close. This European species was introduced to North America in the 1800s and has become widely naturalized. Although considered an invasive weed by some, their […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Bugs Between the Raindrops
Despite the dreary weather, life must go on. Eager to get along with their lives, our local insects show up even for the brief patches of sunshine that occasionally grace my back yard. Mostly disdained by the local honeybees, oxalis, dandelions and English daisies draw a crowd. Aside from the digger bees mentioned last week, there […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Looks Can be Deceiving
Last week I mentioned a large shiny black bee that visited my rosemary plants. In all my field guides the only large shiny black bees are carpenter bees, genus Xylocopa. Although there was a definite similarity, something wasn’t quite right so I investigated further. With the help of some online friends and resources, I learned […]