Oct 28, 2021
So I may have found out about squash bees and their tiny pollen-collecting legwarmers. And I may be hopelessly charmed.
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So I may have found out about squash bees and their tiny pollen-collecting legwarmers. And I may be hopelessly charmed.
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I just found out about Squash Bees (Eucerini Peponapis, and Eucerini Xenoglossa) and they are now my new favorite bee
They’re so fuzzy!!
They only pollinate squash and other related plants, thus the name
Friend shaped
The female cushaw that was supposed to open today got crushed by my hose and didn't open properly, so I decided to hand pollinate. But the male flower I wanted to use was full of bees, so I decided to wait. When I came back it had closed. I decided to go for it anyway and started removing the petals - and there was still a bee inside! It stayed there while I was polinating the female and then crawled inside. Door to door service? I hope it has a way to get out again
Apparently bees in closed flowers is A Thing? I’ve found a couple myself, and seen a lot of people asking about this online.
Squash bees, according to this page from the US Forestry Service, sound like they sleep inside flowers when their work is done. I’m not sure how they get back out when the flowers close up, but if cucurbit flowers are their whole job, I guess they know what they’re doing? Maybe it’s easier to crawl out than we think. Until I learn otherwise I’m going to assume that we aren’t freeing them, we’re just disturbing their naps.
"What, you thought your pumpkins just grew on that vine without any help?" — Squash bee
As the name implies, these bees only collect pollen from squash blossoms, making them excellent pollinators of all the pumpkins and gourds we enjoy this season.
Squash blossom and squash bees (the second one is hiding inside the flower).
Photo by Xer S. Rowan, Creative Commons Attribution license
This image is free to use, as long as the license terms are followed. For information about my free photo project, the licensing, and where to download the high resolution versions, visit linktr.ee/DoingItForTheExposure.
Squash bee - Wikipedia
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Saw that post yesterday about bees sleeping in squash blossoms overnight and it sent me on a rampage for photos. Haven't found the perfect one yet but I thought these were pretty good:
I love how his little legs are gripping the squash pistil like a pillow 🥹
Oh look, two male bees butt-booping!
Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/squash_bees.shtml
This factsheet discusses how to identify and conserve squash bees, an important pollinator of squash, zucchini, pumpkins and many gourds.
Squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa) are specialist bees native to the Americas. Squash bees gather pollen exclusively from plants in the genus Cucurbita (pumpkins, gourds, squash, zucchini and others). These flowers open near dawn, and squash bees are ready and waiting for their grand opening. Squash bees continue visiting the flowers until they wilt around mid day. A squash flower needs to be visited 6-10 times before full pollination occurs, so be thankful for these bees!
The Xerces Society adds:
Squash bees nest in the ground, often right under the squash plants to a depth of only 6-12 inches, so any soil-disturbance (such as tilling) can destroy the bees - and your chances for adequate pollination the next year!