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| These beans didn't need bees. |
Bees are needed to pollinate squash, cucumber and melons. These plants form both male and female flowers. Humans can intervene by transferring the pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers.
There are vegetables that don't need bees or other insect pollinators, such as peas, okra and most beans. There are also plants that (some say) can be self-pollinated with help from the wind, such as tomatoes, peppers, kale and corn. This is currently a topic of debate, so I'm waiting for the experts to decide and let me know.
I tried to grow zucchini a few years ago, but had little luck. No bees. When I try to grow flowers to attract bees, the deer eat the flowers. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteThat's a common dilemma. I can only grow flowers right next to my house or the deer eat them. Deer don't like plants (as much) that have a strong scent, like lavendar, salvia, sage, clover. A side note, pesticides will drive bees away, that's what happened to the blogger's bees. Thanks for your comment.
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