Are We Backing the Wrong Bee?

Dr. Jim Cane is out in the squash fields before the sun peeks out over the eastern horizon. He knows that if he starts early, he can find male squash bees sleeping within the collapsed husks of yesterday’s squash flowers. Cane is a research entomologist. He’s spent much of his career as a bee specialist with the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service and he’s an authority on the agricultural benefits of many of the 3,600 diverse species of wild, native bees, including squash bees. Male squash bees are ready at first light to greet females as they emerge