The 13 Bugs of Christmas, Revisited – Bug Squad

Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen (Photograph by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It is time to revisit the “13 Bugs of Christmas!”  

Again in 2010, Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (now emeritus) and yours really of the UC Davis Division of Entomology and Nematology determined that “The 12 Days of Christmas” ought to get replaced with bugs.

Why not? “Entomology” means “insect science,” and it is the vacation season so why not change “5 gold rings” to “5 golden bees?” And add another bugs and pests, as effectively.

Word that the unique “Twelve Days of Christmas,” revealed in 1780, options no bugs.  Zero. Zilch. Nada. Only a partridge in a  pear tree, 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, 4 calling birds, 5 gold rings, 6 geese-a-laying, 7 swans-a-swimming, 8 maids a’milking, 9 girls dancing, 10 lords-a-leaping, and 11 pipers piping.

Did not appear honest.

The 5 gold rings turned 5 golden bees. Here is one of many golden bees, a Cordovan, a subspecies of the Italian. (Photograph by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

So “5 gold rings” turned “5 golden bees.” Mussen sang the progressive music on the division’s vacation celebration. The lyrics went viral when U.S. Information picked it up:

On the primary day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, a psyllid in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, 2 tortoises beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the third day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the fourth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the fifth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the sixth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 6 lice a’laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the seventh day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a’laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

These are booklice, Liposcelis bostrychophila, in cornmeal. (Photograph by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

On the eighth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 8 ants a’milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a’laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the ninth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 9 mayflies dancing, 8 ants a’milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a’laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the tenth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 10 locusts leaping, 9 mayflies dancing,  8 ants a’milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a’laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 11 queen bees piping, 10 locusts leaping, 9 mayflies dancing, 8 ants a’milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a’laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me 12 deathwatch beetles drumming, 11 queen bees piping, 10 locusts leaping, 9 mayflies dancing, 8 ants a’milking aphids, 7 boatmen swimming, 6 lice a’laying, 5 golden bees, 4 calling cicadas, 3 French flies, 2 tortoise beetles and a psyllid in a pear tree

“On the thirteenth day of Christmas, Californians woke to see:?? 13 Kaphra beetles, ?12 Diaprepes weevils, ?11 citrus psyllids, ?10 Tropilaelaps clareae, ?9 melon fruit flies, 8 Aedes aegypti, 7 ash tree borers, 6 six spotted-wing Drosophila, 5 ?5 gypsy moths, 4 Japanese beetles, 3 imported hearth ants, 2 brown apple moths, and a medfly in a pear tree.”

Right this moment the music remains to be making the rounds, however with some totally different pests–pests that problem the entomologists within the California Division of Meals and Agriculture:

On the primary day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, a psyllid in a pear tree.
One the second day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, two peach fruit flies
On the third day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, three false codling moths
On the fourth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, 4 peach fruit flies
On the fifth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, 5 gypsy moths
On the sixth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, six white striped fruit flies
On the seventh day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, seven imported hearth ants
On the eighth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, eight longhorn beetles
On the ninth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, 9 melon fruit flies
On the tenth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, ten brown apple moths
On the eleventh  day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, eleven citrus psyllids
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, twelve guava fruit flies.
On the thirteenth day of Christmas, my real love gave to me, 13 Japanese beetles

And, then, in fact, there’s that dratted pest, the Varroa destructor (varroa mite) from Asia, which arrived in the USA in 1987. Often called the No. 1 enemy of beekeepers, this exterior parasitic mite not solely sucks a bee’s lifeblood, however can transmit debilitating viruses. This isn’t what you need for Christmas–or another time.