Honey Bees Weren't the Only Insects at California Honey Festival

Honey bees weren't the only insects at the 2022 California Honey Festival, held Saturday, May 7 in downtown Woodland.

Walking sticks, aka stick insects, grabbed some of the attention, too.

Officials at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, brought along display cases of bee specimens that showed the diversity of bees. They also brought along stick insects for visitors to hold and photograph. 

UC Davis undergraduate students Lauren Spellman and Pichawi "Salee" Sangrawiakararat delighted in holding the Peruvian stick insects. Both are first-year students. Lauren is majoring in environmental sciences while Salee is undeclared. When someone suggested that Salee might consider majoring in entomology (science of insects), she smiled. 

The Bohart Museum of Entomology, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, houses a worldwide collection o 8 million insect specimens. It also includes a gift shop, stocked with insect-themed gifts such as hoodies, t-shirts, books, posters, and jewelry; and its popular live "petting zoo," comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas. 

The Bohart, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, is newly opened to the public this spring after two years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.  Groups must make reservations and everyone must follow the UC Davis visitor guidelines.

Upcoming weekend programs, free and open to the public:

• Saturday, May  28,  1 to 4 p.m. 
  "Bugs in Ag: What Is Eating Our Crops and What is Eating Them?"
  
  
• Saturday, June 25, 1 to 4 p.m. 
  "8-legged  Wonders"
  
  
• Saturday, July 16. 1 to 4 p.m. 
  "Celebrating 50 Years of the Dogface Butterfly: California's State Insect"