the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. She teaches a popular class, "The Art of Queen Bee Rearing" and also an advanced instrumental insemination class. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Diners know that a napkin serves a good purpose: touch the lips with it or protect the lap.

Well, honey bees occasionally use a napkin, too. A recent sun break--blue skies, 70-degree temperatures, no rain--resulted in honey bees foraging for water on a rain-soaked napkin on the patio.

They came in twos to stand on the napkin to sip water.

"Water foragers tend to forage at the water source nearest to their colony," writes honey bee expert Norman Gary, emeritus professor of apiculture at UC Davis, in his recently published book, Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care andPages

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Denver Post is reporting that as many as nine wildfires were started by a Union Pacific train on the Moffat Route through Arvada. Grass fires stretched for five miles on Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. A Red Flag warning was issued by the National Weather Service for the area at the time, meaning that conditions were ripe for any wildfires to grow quickly. According to Scott Pribble of the Arvada Fire Department, numerous witnesses claimed they saw sparks from the train ignite dry grasses next to the tracks. The fires stretched from West 72nd Avenue and Oak Street to near the junction of Colorado 72 and 93, near Rocky.

The fires set by the train engulfed the home and barn of 92-year-old Margery Kusulas, who escaped