Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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A honey bee struggles to fit inside a strawberry blossom. In the bee world, one size fits all.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Come on In--the Pollen's Fine

June 25th, 2020
She didn't know it was National Pollinator Week. If she had, she would have paid it no mind. She just knew that this was some fine pollen as she struggled to fit inside the strawberry blossom. The honey bee, Apis mellifera, is like that: determined, decisive, and mission-bound.
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What's pollinating the squash blossom? A squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, a species of solitary bee in the tribue Eucerini. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Got Squash? Got Squash Bees?

June 22nd, 2020
Got squash blossoms? You've probably got squash bees. Unlike honey bees, which are generalists, squash bees are specialists. They pollinate only members of the cucurbits or squash family, Cucurbitaceae, which includes pumpkins, squash, gourds, cucumbers and zucchini.
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