I am often asked why insects are so important to our food supply, and why honey bees in particular. This is a story.
All cucurbits ( squash, melon, gourd, pumpkin, and cucumber...) are warm season crops. It means that they grow best during hot weather and do not tolerate frost. Pumpkins and squashes grow best at temperatures ranging from 75-78F (23-29C) during the day and 60-70F (15-21C) at night.
Cucurbits are monoecious plants: It means that each plant produces both male and female flowers. Is it not great? Normally, few male flowers form before female flowers develop. What I found absolutely fascinating is that depending on the temperature a male or a female blossom will appear. When it is cool about 70F (22C), most pumpkins and squashes cultivars will produce male flowers. However, male flowers do not produce any fruit. But(!) without male flowers to provide the pollen ; female flowers by themselves do not produce any fruit either.
This is where the honey bees get involved, and are part of the wonderful world of pollination. Bees are an essential part of the production of all vine crops. Wild bees and other insects are usually sufficient to pollinate a small field, less than one acre (0.40 Hectare). If the fields is more than one or 2 acres (0.8 Hectare), having beehives is very helpful. As a rule, 1 colony of honey bees is sufficient to pollinate 2-3 acres (0.8- 1.2 Hectare) of pumpkins or squashes.
Blossom density for squashes and pumpkins is low. Therefore these crops are not very attractive to bees, because each flower has to be visited at least 15 times for a complete pollination. Incomplete pollination results in misshapen and smaller fruits.
Female blossoms are short-lived, about 24 hours. Female blossoms of pumpkins and squashes open first thing in the morning, and closes few hours later. The flower will never reopen again; if they are not pollinated, they abort and fall off the plant. The flower is open from 10:00 am to about 3:00pm, coincidentally this is also when the honey bees are in force foraging!
In order to "make" a fruit then, the honey bee has to visit the male flower, and then pay a visit to the female flower 15 times before pollination takes place! Fortunately, when honey bees set their eyes on one type of flower in the morning as they emerge from the hive, they will go back and forth to the same flower that day. Just as Nature had intended!
Male and female pumpkin flowers
Pumpkins leaves and vines emerging
Pumpkin blossoms Growing fruit
Pumpkins in field
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