The University of California, Davis will host its 15th annual Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, February 21. The event is free and open to the public, featuring a range of bee-related displays and activities at both the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the UC Davis Bee Haven.
At the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building at 455 Crocker Lane, visitors can explore exhibits from noon to 4 p.m. These include live bumble bees and honey bees as well as specimens such as carpenter bees, orchard bees, and orchid bees. The UC Davis Bee Haven at 1 Biology Road will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., offering opportunities to observe pollinators in action.
Bee-focused stations in the Academic Surge hallway will be staffed by faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates from several research labs. Lexie Martin, a doctoral candidate from the Rachel Vannette lab, announced that activities will include observing live bumble bee colonies with microscope cameras (Muth Lab), interactive displays on orchard and ground-nesting bees (Williams Lab), arts and crafts with flower materials (Vannette Lab), and close-up looks at orchid bee specimens along with educational videos (Ramirez Lab).
The Bohart Museum’s petting zoo will allow visitors to handle Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects. Other featured exhibits include arachnids from Jason Bond’s lab—such as trapdoor spiders and scorpions—and an ant display by Rodolfo da Silva Probst’s group. Inside the museum itself, guests can view butterfly collections curated by Jeff Smith or discuss entomology topics with Greg Kareofelas.
The UC Davis Bee Haven is managed by Elina Niño, professor of Cooperative Extension apiculture. Visitors can meet Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator, along with Kian Nikzad of the California Master Beekeeper Program for discussions about pollinator habitats.
Guests are invited to walk through a garden showcasing over 200 plant species that support native pollinators. Notable features include “Miss Bee Haven,” a six-foot-long mosaic-ceramic worker bee sculpture by artist Donna Billick, as well as floral art created mainly by students taught by Professor Emerita Diane Ullman.
Interactive experiences at The Haven involve making seed cookies for planting at home and viewing bees through an observation hive. Organizers noted: “Immerse yourself in the rhythm of real pollinators in action.”
If heavy rain occurs on event day, all outdoor Bee Haven activities will move indoors to the Academic Surge Building.
For more information about participating museums or directions around campus—including maps—the Bio Div Day website provides additional details.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources supports these outreach efforts through research centers across diverse ecosystems in California (https://ucanr.edu/). As part of its mission within the University of California system (https://ucanr.edu/), it applies university expertise statewide via local offices in all counties (https://ucanr.edu/). The organization has worked for over a century to promote community well-being through science-based practices (https://ucanr.edu/).
