[ExI] bees again

[MB]

> Cool!  I was aware that Europeans brought honeybees to
> North America, but I
> didn't know that pumpkins depend on them for pollination.
> I should have
> been able to figure it out, since they have those big
> flowers.  This comment
> was posted on one of my bee groups:
>
>


spike, this doesn't make sense to me.  Pumpkins are native
to the North America - and so (IIUC) are cranberries, so
they have native pollinators.

There is a specific type of native bee that does pumpkins,
it's called the Squash Bee.

<http://twentypoundtabby.blogspot.com/2012/08/peponapis-pruinosa-probably-pollinated.html>

Regards,
MB

>
>
> The BUZZ: No Pumpkin Pie
>
>
> Did you know that honeybees are not native to North
> America? Honeybees (Apis
> mellifera) have been tended since ancient times in Europe
> and the Middle
> East, but were first brought to the Americas on ships to
> provide honey and
> candle wax.
>
> So, when the pilgrims sat down to their first Thanksgiving
> dinner in the
> autumn of 1621, there was no honey on the table. And,
> there was no pumpkin
> pie. In fact, there were none of the bee-pollinated foods
> that have become
> part of the holiday tradition, like cranberries or apples.
>