California
A California photographer is on a quest to photograph hundreds of native bees
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the arid, cracked desert ground in Southern California, a tiny bee pokes its head out of a hole no larger than the tip of a crayon.
Krystle Hickman crouches over with her specialized camera fitted to capture the minute details of the bee’s antennae and fuzzy behind.
“Oh my gosh, you are so cute,” Hickman murmurs before the female sweat bee flies away.
Hickman is on a quest to document hundreds of species of native bees, which are under threat by climate change and habitat loss, some of it caused by the more recognizable and agriculturally valued honey bee — an invasive species. Of the roughly 4,000 types of bees native to North America, Hickman has photographed over 300. For about 20 of them, she’s the first to ever photograph them alive.
Through photography, she wants to raise awareness about the importance of native bees to the survival of the flora and fauna around them.
“Saving the bees means saving their entire ecosystems,” Hickman said.
Community scientists play important role in observing bees
On a Saturday in January, Hickman walked among the early wildflower bloom at Anza Borrego Desert State Park a few hundred miles east of Los Angeles, where clumps of purple verbena and patches of white primrose were blooming unusually early due to a wet winter.
Where there are flowers, there are bees.
Hickman has no formal science education and dropped out of a business program that she hated. But her passion for bees and keen observation skills made her a good community scientist, she said. In October, she published a book documenting California’s native bees, partly supported by National Geographic. She’s conducted research supported by the University of California, Irvine, and hopes to publish research notes this year on some of her discoveries.
“We’re filling in a lot of gaps,” she said of the role community scientists play in contributing knowledge alongside academics.
On a given day, she might spend 16 hours waiting beside a plant, watching as bees wake up and go about their business. They pay her no attention.
Originally from Nebraska, Hickman moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. She began photographing honey bees in 2018, but soon realized native bees were in greater danger.
Now, she’s a bee scientist full time.
“I really think anyone could do this,” Hickman said.
A different approach
Melittologists, or people who study bees, have traditionally used pan trapping to collect and examine dead bee specimens. To officially log a new species, scientists usually must submit several bees to labs, Hickman said.
There can be small anatomical differences between species that can’t be photographed, such as the underside of a bee, Hickman said.
But Hickman is vehemently against capturing bees. She worries about harming already threatened species. Unofficially, she thinks she’s photographed at least four previously undescribed species.
Hickman said she’s angered “a few melittologists before because I won’t tell them where things are.”
Her approach has helped her forge a path as a bee behavior expert.
During her trip to Anza Borrego, Hickman noted that the bees won’t emerge from their hideouts until around 10 a.m., when the desert begins to heat up. They generally spend 20 minutes foraging and 10 minutes back in their burrows to offload pollen, she said.
“It’s really shockingly easy to make new behavioral discoveries just because no one’s looking at insects alive,” she said.
Hickman still works closely with other melittologists, often sending them photos for identification and discussing research ideas.
Christine Wilkinson, assistant curator of community science at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, said Hickman was a perfect example of why it’s important to incorporate different perspectives in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
“There are so many different ways of knowing and relating to the world,” Wilkinson said. “Getting engaged as a community scientist can also get people interested in and passionate about really making change.”
Declining native bees
There’s a critically endangered bee that Hickman is particularly determined to find – Bombus franklini, or Franklin’s bumblebee, last seen in 2006.
Since 2021, she’s traveled annually to the Oregon-California border to look for it.
“There’s quite a few people who think it’s extinct, but I’m being really optimistic about it,” she said.
Habitat loss, as well as competition from honey bees, have made it harder for native bees to survive. Many native bees will only drink the nectar or eat the pollen of a specific plant.
Because of her success in tracking down bees, she’s now working with various universities and community groups to help find lost species, which are bees that haven’t been documented in the wild for at least a decade.
Hickman often finds herself explaining to audiences why native bees are important. They don’t make honey, and the disappearance of a few bees might not have an apparent impact on humans.
“But things that live here, they deserve to live here. And that should be a good enough reason to protect them,” she said.
If you visit Disneyland with any frequency, a discount from the usual price of more than $100 a day would feel like a blessing.
However, almost as soon as Disney recently offered a rare chance to purchase limited evening passes to its two Southern California parks at about half of the regular cost, the online speculation among Disney enthusiasts behind the company’s strategy spiked. It was no surprise that the lower-priced tickets sold out in about a week.
Some fans referred to the five-hour ticket as a “recession” indicator on social media or as a way to “capture random stragglers.”
Others believed the ticket offered fireworks enthusiasts an opportunity to catch a nighttime spectacular, while one person said the pass allowed visitors to partake in other Southern California activities before finishing their evening at Disneyland.
Buyers of the pass are first set to attend the parks this Sunday, with dates extending until August.
Disneyland officials brush off the speculation, saying the ticket sale is business as usual. Fortunately for us, industry insider Dennis Speigel offered some analysis behind the move.
Let’s jump into the offer and his thoughts on the deal.
All about the ticket
Late last month, Disneyland offered a one-park evening pass for $59 to Disneyland or California Adventure. The ticket is good from Sundays to Wednesdays, starting this Sunday until Aug. 5.
California Adventure would allow evening patrons in at 5 p.m. until closing at 10 p.m. and Disneyland at 7 p.m. until closing at midnight.
A park reservation was still required for evening passes.
The tickets became available June 30 and sold out by July 6, according to a Disneyland spokesperson. Disneyland officials declined to say how many tickets were sold.
What’s Disneyland’s rationale?
The ticket offering is not all that rare.
Similar opportunities began as far back as 1957 with Disneyland date nights admission running from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m, a park spokesperson said.
“Our goal is to provide guests with a variety of limited-time ticket offers throughout the year — this being just one example of that,” a Disneyland spokesperson said.
Softer than a dole whip
Speigel, founder and chief executive of Cincinnati-based International Theme Park Services, Inc., a theme park consulting firm, said theme parks, ranging from small, regional locales to international destinations are struggling with a “softness” in admission demand that began in April but became more acute in June.
That slump at Disney and Universal Studios properties nationwide, Speigel said in a call with The Times, is due to three primary factors: the economy, weather and the Iranian War.
“There’s a nervousness from visitors, a lack of understanding of what to expect because of the war and economy,” he said. “We saw something like that last year driven by tariffs with soaring gas prices, and we monitored how people started moving back on their spending.”
Visitors still want deals
To counter that softness, Disney is turning to discounts, hoping to kindle interest, Speigel speculated.
“They understand their guests are in a crucible, and this drives the decision to discount,” he said. “People still want their escapes; that doesn’t go down. They just want to pay less to escape.”
Disney’s evening pass is also a shrewd offer because it aims to attract another type of guest: budget-minded locals who might be enticed by $59, Speigel said.
“It’s a smart attempt on Disney’s part,” Speigel said. “It moves in the local people who aren’t the season pass holders or tourists, and it fills the park. That’s what parks are looking to do right now.”
The week’s biggest stories
(Etienne Laurent / For the Times)
Boyle Heights fire
Two graduation traumas
Beach takeovers
Science and technology
What else is going on
Must-reads
Other meaty reads
For your downtime
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Going out
Staying in
L.A. Timeless
A selection of the very best reads from The Times’ 143-year archive.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. (KABC) — An Amber Alert was issued Friday by the California Highway Patrol for a 3-year-old child out of California City believed to be in imminent danger.
Emaria Peel, 3, was last seen Friday at about 7:17 p.m. in the area of Redwood Boulevard and 83rd Street in California City, according to police.
Authorities believe 31-year-old Charnay Mclin took Emaria. Investigators have not yet said what relationship, if any, Mclin has to the child.
The suspect was described as being 5 feet 9 inches tall, 185 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
The child was described as being 1 foot 6 inches, 20 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Police believe they’re traveling in a gold-colored 2021 Kia Sorento with the California license plate: 36095DV
Mclin is considered armed and dangerous. Authorities wants anyone who sees them to call 911.
No further details were immediately known.
Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
A 17-year-old suspect has been arrested in Texas in connection with the deadly shooting after a high school graduation ceremony in Fairfield, California last month, police said.
Fairfield police said U.S. Marshals, accompanied by department detectives, served search and arrest warrants Friday morning at a home in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The teen was taken into custody without incident on suspicion of murder and related offenses.
Investigators said the suspect fled California and traveled to Texas within days of the June 3 shooting. He will remain in custody while awaiting extradition to Solano County.
The shooting happened after Sem Yeto Continuation High School’s graduation ceremony, which was held on the Fairfield High School campus.
Police said 18-year-old graduate Jamario Baker died at the scene. Three others – an 11-year-old child and two adults, ages 20 and 25 – were wounded.
Authorities have not released the suspect’s name because he is a minor.
Although an arrest has been made, police said the investigation remains active and detectives continue to pursue additional leads.
“While today’s announcement may provide a measure of relief to some, it does not lessen the pain felt by our community,” the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District said in a statement.
Police plan to hold a news conference Monday at 4 p.m. to discuss the case and arrest.
Fairfield is a Northern California city about 40 miles northwest of San Francisco.
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