Take-Our-Children-to-Work Day Set April 23

The Bohart Museum of Entomology and the UC Davis Bee Haven, both part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will be participating in the UC Davis Take-Our-Children-to-Work Day on Thursday, April 23. 

"The Take-Our-Children-to-Work (TOC) program is all about giving our children a glimpse into the exciting world of work, where they can see firsthand what we do every day and explore new ideas about their future careers," according to a post on the TOC website. "Let’s make this a fun and inspiring day for everyone. Take Our Children to Work Day is an annual national celebration on the 4th Thursday of April for employers to host children at their workplace. Our celebration is designed to be more than a career day; we like to think of it as a family-oriented “mini–Picnic Day."

UC Davis Bee Haven
1 Biology Road 

All Ages: Open House; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"The Haven is a great place to bring your family for lunch," the TOC website says. "Stop by to learn more about the amazing bees and the plants that support them. Docents will be on hand to guide informal tours, bee watching (including an observation beehive) and bee identification." The Haven is located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, west of the central campus.

The Haven, a half-acre garden installed in the fall of 2009 by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, includes more than 200 native plants, and multiple art projects by entomology classes taught by UC Davis Distinguished Professor Diane Ullman, now emerita, and involving the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, co-founded and co-directed by Ullman and Donna Billick. Billick's six-foot long ceramic mosaic sculpture of a worker bee, titled "Miss Bee Haven,"  anchors the garden. 

Honey bees, native bees, syrphid flies, butterflies, dragonflies and praying mantises are among the insects frequenting the Haven. The late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis emeritus professor, documented more than 80 native bees in the garden.

Director of the the Bee Haven is Elina Niño, professor of apiculture, Cooperative Extension, a member of the faculty of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and founder-direcgtor of the UC Master Beekeeper Program. Samantha Murray serves as the education and garden coordinator.

Bohart Museum of Entomology
Room 1124, Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane

All Ages: Open House: 9 a.m. to 11:45 and 1 to 2:45 p.m. (newly announced schedule)
"Curious about who studies insects and arachnids and why?" the TOC website asks. "Visit the Bohart Museum of Entomology, part of the Department of Entomology and Nematology!" TOC participants will explore the displays and are invited to hold live insects, including Madagascar hissing cockroaches and walking sticks (stick insects).

Two interns, Emeline Huffaker and Jo Ridgeway, will greet the guests and show them the petting zoo. Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection, will be show the butterfly collection and answer questions.

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 by UC Davis professor Richard Bohart, is the home of eight million specimens; a live petting zoo; and an insect-themed gift shop. The museum's insect collection is the seventh largest collection in North America. The scientists are involved in the "understanding, documenting and communicating of terrestrial arthropod diversity."

Director of the Bohart Museum is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES). He succeeds UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey, who directed the museum for 34 years until her retirement in 2024. She continues to do research and as director of the Bohart Museum Society.

See the full TOC schedule here.