No bees?!?

[sparkles2307]

I have NO zuchinni! I've got 4 yellow and no green. Lots of flowers, male and female...and I havent had time the past 2 weeks to do much hand pollinating! The funny thing is, we have 3 bee-hive sites within 1/2 mile of our house so why arent the bees coming around!?!?

 

[Hencackle]

You might try using a soft-bristled artists brush to hand pollinate the flowers. Or grow Partenon Hybrid Zucchini , a parthenocarpic variety that can be grown under cover.

 

[bid]

Maybe they have plenty of other pollen sources closer to home and just haven't had to range over to your garden yet? I am certainly not a bee expert, but most animals, insects, fish, etc don't work any harder than they have to to obtain food because of the energy expended vs. energy gained. Why fly a half a mile if there is a food source closer. One possible reason maybe. I will be interested to hear what some of the beekeepers on here have to say. Are these your hives sparkles?

 

[vfem]

Honey Bees are lazy and will stay as close to home as possible to keep from having to work too far to get what they need... especially if what they need is outside their house!

Maybe you should try to get some mason bees and set up a permanent home for them in your yard so they stick around your garden year after year?

 

[sparkles2307]

They aren't my hives And our bee-keeper friend wont put any hives at our place #1 because he lost 400 hives over the winter and #2 because they need to be at least a mile from strange bees and whoever has the hives by us is only 1/2 mile away. Otherwise he told me that he would put them right in my backyard since we have so many pollen sources in a small area. I will have to make time to hand pollinate I guess, much as I hate to think of the mosquitoes that will be helping me do that....

Will Mason Bees over-winter in Minnesota???

 

[journey11]

It's mostly the mason bees and other wild bees that you'll find pollinating squash, especially if you only have a few plants.

Honeybees prefer to work on one pollen source at a time if available and if you've got clover blooming right now, that's where you'll find them mostly. They'll go for tree pollens, buckwheat, etc, whatever is abundant and in season first. When a scout finds a good source, she will come back and tell the others so they can all get after it. When my corn was in tassels, they were hitting it pretty hard for pollen. I'd find them where the leaves meet the stalks, rolling in all the pollen that collected there.

A honeybee worker will only live for about 6 weeks during the summer, because they are working so hard to get their winter stores in, they wear themselves out.

 

[hoodat]

Unfortunately zuchini blossoms aren't a favorite with honey bees. They only seem to work them when more desirable plants aren't available. Bumblers, on the other hand, seem to prefer them above all others. They have the shoulders to really dig in there, which is what zuchini flowers require. Having winter squash and cucumbers in blossom nearby seems to encourage honey bees to get the zuchinis at the same time.

 

[Whitewater]

My cukes (yes, we have 'em -- two itty bitty ones!) and my zukes (we have 2 of those, too) appear to be getting pollinated by ants and sweat bees.

I haven't seen a honeybee for weeks, not since I let my radishes bolt.


I'm a bit south of you, OP, but you should get *some* kind of edibles even if you haven't got honeybees. Something will fill the gap.


Whitewater