EDITOR'S NOTE, Updated Oct. 8:

Due to a health-related emergency, noted entomologist May Berenbaum has cancelled her lectures on Oct. 9-10 at the University of California, Davis. However, "BSI: The Case of the Disappearing Bees"—the public lecture scheduled Tuesday, Oct. 9—will go on as planned, but with UC Davis bee specialist Eric Mussen an internationally known honey bee expert, presenting the lecture.

Berenbaum's scheduled lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 10, the first in the fall series of Distinguished Seminar Series sponsored by the Department of Entomology, has been cancelled, announced Walter Leal, professor and chair of the department. Berenbaum is the professor and head of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mussen, an Extension specialist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology, will be honored at a reception at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9 in Ballroom A of the Activities Recreation Center, corner of LaRue Road and Orchard Drive. His lecture follows at 5:30 p.m. He will discuss the pollinator crisis, the plight of the honey bee, and advances in entomology. Admission is free.

In January, Mussen received the American Association of Professional Apiculturists' Award for Apicultural Excellence for his bee industry leadership and apicultural research publications. He also was named the California State Beekeepers' Association's "Beekeeper of the Year" award for his regional, state and national contributions to the beekeeping industry.

His research interests are managing honey bees and wild bees for maximum field production, while minimizing pesticide damage to pollinator populations.

Mussen received his doctorate in entomology from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul.

Walter Leal, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, said that the honeybee colony collapse disorder "is one of the most intriguing problems in agricultural entomology.

"We at the Department of Entomology at UC Davis are very interested in finding a solution for this problem as California is bearing the biggest economic consequences of this crisis," Leal said.

Berenbaum was to have been the first speaker in the entomology department's fall Distinguished Seminar Series. A list of upcoming speakers is available on the department's Web site at: http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/courses/deptseminar/distinguishedseminarseries.cfm.