Tillage and squash bees: Protect your best source for pollination in your squash fields

Zsofia Szendrei<szendrei@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology -

Watch our new 3-minute video to learn more about squash bees.

Squash bees
Photo by Zsofia Szendrei, MSU Entomology

The Michigan State University Vegetable Entomology Lab started researching squash pollination two years ago when the USDA Organic Research and Extension Initiative funded a project that focused on all aspects of squash management. One of our goals was to learn about the impact of management practices on a little-known native pollinator that specializes in pollinating winter and summer squash: the squash bee.

The squash bee is a unique insect because it naturally occurs in most squash productions in Michigan and must find squash pollen to feed its young. The female creates nests in the ground and our project focused on finding out how soil disturbance impacts squash bees.

Watch our new 3-minute video on tillage and squash bees to learn more about this topic, and enjoy the animations created by our talented collaborator, Holly Hooper, MSU Entomology graduate student. Thanks to Joy Landis and colleagues from MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications & Marketing for helping us create this video. Follow us on Twitter @msuvegent!

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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  • agriculture,
  • department of entomology,
  • msu extension,
  • organic agriculture,
  • pollinators and pollination,
  • squash,
  • squash bees,
  • vegetables

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