A female watermelon flower will need around 500-1000 pollen grains to be fertilized effectively. This will require a minimum of 8 visits by a honey bee for seeded watermelons, in seedless watermelon more visits will be required.The pollen produced by seedless watermelons is not viable. To fertilise seedless watermelon, pollen must be transferred from viable male flowers in standard or special polleniser seeded types to triploid seedless female flowers. Because bees foraging in seedless watermelon plantings carry a mix of viable and non-viable pollen, more pollination visits (16 to 24) by honey bees are needed to set fruit.
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