Davis Photographer's Insect Images On Display At Bee Garden Event

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

DAVIS, CA – -Photographer Allan Jones of Davis will display his images of insects at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22 on Bee Biology Road, west of the UC Davis campus.

The half-acre bee friendly garden is operated by the University of California, Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology.

The event is free and family friendly and the last open house of the year. It will include a catch-and-release bee activity, and a sale of bee plants and solitary bee condos (drilled holes in blocks of wood for bee nests, accommodating leafcutter bees and blue orchard bees). Plus, visitors will receive recommendations on what to plant for the fall to attract pollinators.

Jones will exhibit images of male and female bees of the same species, including a male and female leafcutter bee, Megachile fidelis, on sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale.

Among his many other images: a leafcutting bee “flying a bit of Clarkia petal back as nest material” and a “honey bee vs. wasp image designed to help define and differentiate bees and wasps.”

An alumnus of UC Davis, Allan became an Aggie in 1961, receiving degrees in English and German in 1966, and his master's in English in 1972. He joined the doctoral program in 1973 "but I quit in 1974, making my summer job of inspecting tomatoes my career for 43 seasons."

He worked for the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for half of his career and with an independent advisory board, affiliated with CDFA, for the other half. “I did some workmanlike macro photography of tomato defects and wider shots of the inspection process for training."

He spent the ‘70s in Dixon, and the ‘80s and ‘90s in Sacramento “before moving back to Davis after 2000.”

“Working tomatoes six to nine months a year allowed me to pursue art and later landscape photography along the American River,” Jones related. “During the winter of 1982. I tried to capture glimpses of the American River in every light as the historic wild braided river it once was. The scenes are painterly, echoing the Hudson River School. When I moved from Sacramento back to Davis I turned to the UC Davis Arboretum, picking up macro shots to enhance a PowerPoint program I made for the Sacramento State Renaissance Society."

Jones is keenly drawn to the behavior of insects. “My intent with insects and bees is the capture their behaviors in context, that is, together with the flowers they pollinate,” Jones says. “I often use layers in PhotoShop to get the flower as well as the insect in focus. For me the co-evolution of bees and flowers requires them both to share the stage. I aim for a tiny diorama from an illustrator's perspective.”

His camera gear? “I am between Canon platforms. I have an older Canon 6D with a Sigma 180 macro and am moving to a Canon, Mark 2 EOS 1DX, with a new 100-400 telephoto lens using a 20 mm extension tube for macro--my new favorite. First I shoot the bee at least once then take multiple shots of the flower(s) for effective layering.”

Jones is a volunteer photographer for both the haven and the UC Davis Arboretum. He works closely with native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, who identifies and/or confirms his identifications. Thorp, who maintains an office in the nearby Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, co-authored Bumble Bees of California: An Identification Guide (2014, Princeton University Press) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (2014, Heyday Books).

The haven, installed in the fall of 2009 and located at the end of Bee Biology Road, is open from dawn to dusk. It is directed by Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Christine Casey, the haven's academic program manager, says many difficult-to-find pollinator plants will be on sale.

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--Image of leafcutter bee returning to his nest with a Clarkia petal by Allan Jones, and Jones photographing insects via Kathy Keatley Garvey.