Posted on September 12 2010 by Charles Thompson

University opens Honey Bee Haven

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — From tiny metallic green specks to giant black drones, bees have found their honey heaven on a slice of the University of California-Davis campus.

More than 6 million bees representing up to 55 species have taken up residence in the new Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre refuge designed to educate students and the public about agriculture’s most important little helpers.

The new garden was dedicated yesterday, but has been buzzing with activity. Red sages attract legions of workers that dip eagerly for nectar. Summer squash and watermelon tempt honeybees into vegetable beds.

Coneflowers with thimbles-full of pollen beckon native bees to dig right in.

While we recently celebrated National Honey Bee Awareness Day, interest in bees has never been bigger, say experts, mostly due to colony collapse disorder.

“Absolutely, bee awareness is the highest I’ve seen, no doubt about it,” says bee expert Eric Mussen, who has been part of the university’s entomology staff for 34 years. “A lot of people are asking, ‘What can I do to help?’”

America is losing its honeybees at an alarming rate for unknown reasons. Last winter, an estimated 33.8 percent of commercial hives died out. Since the start of its rapid rise in 2007, colony collapse disorder may have wiped out 25 percent to 35 percent of European honeybee colonies, the type tended by American beekeepers.

“Many bees just don’t look as healthy as they used to,” Mussen explains. “Something suppresses their immune system. We’ve found elevated fungal disease as well as elevated virus, but how did they get susceptible to these in the first place?”

Concern for bees is not just about honey. Many crops are dependent on bees for pollination. Among them are melons, squash, cucumbers, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and sunflowers.

Also bee-dependent are alfalfa, buckwheat and clover. Most tree fruit needs bees. Among the biggest bee-users in California: almonds.

But bees don’t stay put. “Bees need the equivalent of an acre of plants to visit every day,” Mussen said. “They’ll fly up to four miles from the hive and cover 50 square miles. They’re in everybody’s gardens and fruit trees, not just the orchards.”

Including three large almond trees and several other fruit trees, the new Bee Haven has 110 hives, but bees are everywhere — including the ground. Some native bees burrow and make nests in the soil.

“This garden already has incredible diversity,” says Neal Williams, an assistant professor who works with native bees. “We have bumblebees, carpenter bees, leaf cutters, borer bees, mason bees, sweat bees. It’s pretty incredible who we’ve found.”

Before planting the garden, a survey by Davis bee expert Robbin Thorp found 21 species of bees buzzing around the Laidlaw Honey Bee Research Facility at the Davis campus. Next to the research lab, the new garden — created as a food source for the facility’s bees as well as an outreach program — attracted 15 more species this spring. In all, 55 species have been documented.

“We’ve seen some exotic nonnative species move in, too,” Williams says, “plus some bees that we still haven’t fully identified.

“It’s important to have diversity,” he added. “It’s like a stock portfolio; diversity buffers change.”

With a $75,000 budget, the garden began in July 2009 with a patch of open, untilled field. The local bees survived on star thistle and bindweed.

“The ground hadn’t been worked in years,” says Missy Borel, program manager of the California Center for Urban Horticulture at the university. “It was like a giant concrete brick.”

Sausalito landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki were picked after an international design search. Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors of Antelope, Calif. — experts on sustainable drought-tolerant landscaping — handled the installation.

“Our biggest challenge was cost,” said Borel, who was in charge of the planting. “We had a tight budget and started with nothing but an empty field. We had no irrigation. But we had tremendous support. Almost everything was donated.”

Most of the featured plants are Arboretum All-Stars, drought-tolerant, easy-care perennials and shrubs propagated by the university’s arboretum. The compost came from scraps from campus cafeterias.

“We gave the designers a list of suggested plants to use that would offer year-round bloom,” said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, who also oversees the apiary (bee) program. “The bees love them — but so do the rabbits. That’s been a real struggle.”

To keep out voracious bunnies, a temporary fence skirts the garden, which is open free to the public daily from dawn to dusk.

Out of bronze and ceramic mosaic, Davis artist Donna Billick created a giant honeybee sculpture the size of a large dog. It sits atop a bench and pedestal decorated with mosaics by Sarah Rizzo, schoolchildren and U.C. Davis students led by artist-scientist Diane Ullman.

“We learned a lesson from the bees — the value of social networking and collaboration,” Billick said.

Bees are attracted to sweet smells and bright colors, so avoid wearing them.

If a bee lands on you, hold still. (Tell kids to pretend they’re statues.) Don’t swat; the rapid movement might startle the insect. Gently blow on the bee to encourage it to take off.

If you get stung, pull the stinger out immediately. That cuts down on the poison that causes swelling. Then apply an ice pack or cold compress.

If a person is allergic to bees and is stung, don’t wait to see symptoms; call 911 or head for an emergency room.

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