Flowering Plants/Trees    Back to Honey Plants

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Squash/Pumpkins/pickles (Cucurbita species)

Cultivated crops grown in areas from the south to the north.  The seeds for these plants are not planted until soil temperatures reach the mid 50's.   Production of fruit is greatly improved with honey bee pollination.  This means that in the North, the plants are usually not put into the ground until July and bloom continuously from late July to September.  Bees gather both pollen and nectar in large amounts.  Cucumber producers must have honey bees to pollinate their crops.  To get good straight cucumbers like those shown in the center picture requires complete pollination of the cucumber flower.   

Description of nectar

I can speak first hand of pumpkin honey.  It is amber in color, and granulates within weeks.   Some describe the taste as not of high quality but I would describe it as mild - no after taste or bitterness.  It is an amber color and a bit cloudy.

  Description of pollen grain

Collected pollen is bright yellow.   

We could not find any micro photographs of orange or citrus  in any of our references.   Our slides of pumpkin and squash pollen indicate that pollen grains are extremely large.  These are magnified 400X.

      The grains are pentagonal in shape and display a rough exterior surface.