Pumpkin Season is Here!

Did you know that there are specific bees that pollinate pumpkins and squash? Squash bees! They are native bees and they specialize in squash! So, honey bees will pollinate many different flowers and plants, but squash bees will work solely on the squash family-mainly pumpkin, squash and gourds. They look similar to a honey bee, but are larger, hairier and have longer antennae. Honey bees and bumblebees can pollinate these plants, but they don’t tend to when the squash bee is around. The squash bee is solitary (they don’t live in a hive) and they nest in the ground.

Here is a pic of a squash bee I captured last summer working hard on my squash plant.