Backyard apiculture: hobby honey

Bohol Bee Farm, originally uploaded by EnDriNa.

I like bees. Not because I'm crazy about the insects themselves--although they do make good subjects for bug photography--but because they produce that sweet, sweet honey. When I was young, one of my neighbors kept bees, and they gave us free honey sometimes. I thought of them during our last trip to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market, where one of the vendors had a very attractive bee frame display.

Fun Fact: Minnesota is one of the top five honey-producing states in the country, and the vast majority of those bees are tended by amateur keepers.

One of the threats facing honeybees today is pesticide-resistant mites (varroa destructor). A researcher at our own University of Minnesota is leading the way in breeding "hygienic" bees that throw out infected larvae from the hive. And if you want to learn more about beekeeping, she also teaches an introductory course for aspiring apiculturalists.

Mushiking is awesome, extinction is not

Japanese kids love bugs, they love arcade games, and they love them some trading cards. Mushiking combines arcade beetle battles with collectible cards that are dispensed by the machine, and swiped to control the on-screen action.

Although this game is only the latest phenomenon to cash in on the beetle craze, it is being blamed for an increase in illegal importation of endangered bugs from Turkey. According to the Times Online article, "[a] million beetles a year are being imported into Japan, where they are sold for as much as 40,000 yen (£170) each on internet auction sites."

Conservation groups are concerned that the stag beetle Lucanus cervus akbesianus could be wiped out entirely. They're in a serious crisis. Let's get to breeding these beautiful creatures, so that our grandchildren can still run away screaming from giant bugs on their doorsteps.

A quiet cicada

Another Dog Day Cicada, and this one looks more like the others that I've seen photographed. Maybe because this time it was dead? It was lying on its back all dried up like a twig; I nearly stepped on it. It was flipped over and carefully posed for this post-mortem photo.

Basement bugs

We see a lot of multi-limbed visitors in our house, but I'm under standing orders to murder most of them on sight. A beautiful gigantic spider had to go un-photographed after he startled my wife at the bottom of the stairs. This lucky bugger got a few minutes' respite since I found him when she wasn't around to demand an immediate execution. After the portrait session was over, he got a one-way ticket on the toilet express.

Only one question remains, and I pose the challenge to any amateur entomologists who might be reading. What's this bug?

Dog Day Cicada, Tibicen canicularis

When this weirdo appeared in our garden, I had no idea what it was. After half an hour of Internet research, I am ready to pronounce it a "Dog Day Cicada," scientifically known as Tibicen canicularis. Here's an image from Dave's Garden so you can judge for yourself. Note the green wings and green spot in the centre of the forehead.

All the photos I used for identification show solid-looking critters. My specimen seems a bit squisy and newly-hatched in comparison. Cicadas are normally heard and not seen, so it was fun to find one sitting in our Impatiens.

Love Bug in the Car Craft lot

One final photo from the Car Craft Summer Nationals weekend, because this little VW Beetle was too cute not to share.

Western tiger swallowtail, Papilionidae rutulus

Those purple coneflowers we planted were a great investment for increasing the number and variety of bug visitors in our yard. Twice, I have looked through the kitchen window to see a beautiful yellow swallowtail. But by the time I grab the camera, its big wings are already carrying it far, far away.

Like the Aphrodite, which I saw only once, this butterfly is unlikely to return. Maybe next year I'll catch it with my camera. Until then, this great photo by Flickr user audreyjm529 will have to suffice.

Aphrodite Fritillary, Speyeria aphrodite

This fellow was spotted in my garden and identified by examining photos at What's That Bug. Although their example has much more striking coloration, it is unmistakably the same butterfly. Perhaps this is a difference between species in Minnesota and those found in Southeast PA?