FW: pumpkin pollen

I can forward the "beestick.TIFF" file refered to below to those who are
interested, it is 98KB.
Gordon Tanner
Maple Valley, WA

> ----------
> From: 	Ray Zielinski[SMTP:rez@uiuc.edu]
> Sent: 	Thursday, June 11, 1998 7:18 AM
> To: 	Tanner, Gordon L
> Subject: 	Re: pumpkin pollen
> 
> 
> Dear Gordon,
> I'm not an expert on growing pumpkins but it sounds like what you need
> are
> "bee sticks".  These are constructed from bodies (the thorax) of honey
> bees
> glued to a toothpick.  The idea is to collect pollen by touching the
> bee
> stick to any open anthers that are shedding pollen.  The sticks can be
> stored in a DRY container at room temperature for a as long as a year.
> When
> the female flowers open, just touch the bee stick to the stigma to
> deliver
> some of the attached pollen (while buzzing, of course!).  I've
> attached a
> figure to this message that shows what I'm describing (it is a TIF
> file so
> it can be opened in a graphics program or in most word-processor
> programs
> that import pictures, like WORD).  However, I am certain that the
> figure is
> copyrighted, so don't post it on a public location!  You can also read
> about
> bee sticks in:  Williams, Paul H. (1980)  Bee-sticks, an aid to
> pollinating
> Cruciferae.  HortScience  15(6), 802-803.
> 
> Other insect bodies would probably work, but honey bees are the best.
> You
> can buy these from Carolina Biological Co., as they are part of a kit
> for
> growing and doing experiments with Wisconsin fast Plants (relatives of
> cabbage) marketed for elementary school science classes (my daughter's
> 3rd
> grade class loved making and using bee sticks when I brought them in
> for a
> project).  
> 
> Carolina Biological Supply Company
>      2700 York Road
>      Burlington, NC 27215
>      800/334-5551
> 
> I guess you could probably obtain bees from a local bee keeper if
> there is
> one in your area (some kill off many of their bees when honey is
> removed
> from the hives in late summer).
> 
> Fine artist's brushes are also used sometimes for doing pollinations,
> but
> they don't collect pollen as efficiently as an insect thorax.  You
> could
> also carefully snip off the anthers as they begin to open and hold
> them in a
> dry container until the female flowers are ready.  By holding the end
> of the
> anther with some forceps, you can touch one to the stigma and deliver
> some
> pollen.  These methods will probably work but not as efficiently as
> the bee
> sticks.
> 
> Good luck!  I really enjoyed pumpkin web site!
> 
> -Ray Zielinski
> 
> 
> Ray Zielinski
> Associate Professor
> Department of Plant Biology
> University of Illinois
> 505 S. Goodwin Ave.
> Urbana, IL 61801
> phone:  217-333-6785
> fax:  217-244-7246
> Email:  rez@uiuc.edu
> WWW:  http://www.life.uiuc.edu/zielinski/
> 
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