When I walk around the garden every day I take a little inventory of how things are growing, what is flowering, and am always on the lookout for new bugs I haven’t seen before. This past week I was pleasantly surprised by what at first I thought was a bee with a long mouthpart (proboscis), but soon realized it was not a bee at all!
This small, flying insect buzzed up to purple flowers on several plants in my garden. The body was covered in golden hairs with some black showing through giving it that distinctive bee look. The proboscis was so long in proportion to the rest of the insect that it reminded me of the beak on a hummingbird. Still thinking it was a bee of some kind I started trying to get a picture and that is when I saw the telltale antennae and eyes that clued me in that this was not a bee at all, but rather some type of fly.
So, what was this strange looking insect? It is a bee mimic commonly called a bee fly (Bombylius spp.). The bee fly not only looks like a bee, but it takes advantage of native bees to support its young. The female bee fly watches where a ground dwelling solitary bee makes her nest and as she forages for pollen to feed her young the bee fly drops an egg nearby. After hatching the bee fly larva makes its way into the real bee’s nesting chamber and eats the pollen provisions then eats the bee larva. Since solitary ground dwelling bees tend to aggregate in similar suitable locations, I can only guess that the bee fly’s clever disguise prevents it from drawing attention as a threat to the hardworking bee.
Some years it can be hard to tell that the season has shifted from winter to spring in Northwest Florida, but this year we are seeing ideal temperatures for summer vegetable gardens as we shift into April. Soil temperature is affected by ambient temperature and the last few weeks of warm weather has helped to make the ground more conducive to germination of warm season seeds and support growth of transplants. If you have not started your garden yet, do not despair, you still have time to get things growing!
Below is a short list of ideas for your vegetable garden, and you can find more detailed information in the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide.
Direct seed (plant seeds directly into the garden instead of transplant) recommendations:
UF/IFAS Extension Washington County and the Central Panhandle Beekeepers Association have lined up some top-notch speakers and will ensure there are educational opportunities for all skill levels at this two-day event. Speakers will be joining us from the UF/IFAS Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and beekeepers with experience managing honey bees in this region.
Early bird registration is open through 4:59 p.m. on March 17, 2025, so get your tickets now for the best value!
The University of Florida is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. To arrange disability accommodations, please contact Julie McConnell (juliebmcconnell@ufl.edu ) or call 850-638-6180 at least 2 weeks in advance. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Institution.
Planting season is just around the corner and as you plan your summer garden, consider including watermelons to enter into the Big Melon Contest at the Panhandle Watermelon Festival!
The watermelon festival and the Big Melon Contest have been summertime staples in the Central Panhandle for decades. The Big Melon Contest is an opportunity to showcase your skills as a grower and a chance to win prize money. To make the contest fun for growers of all types of watermelons, a winner and first runner-up will be recognized for each variety of melon entered in contest*, with the heaviest melon in the class winning $50 and the first runner-up $25. In addition to the variety classes, there will be a $300 grand prize paid for the overall heaviest melon in the contest, and $200 for the first runner-up heaviest melon. This contest is open to all ages; however, we do have a separate youth division, Junior Jubilee, which is described below.
The Junior Jubilee Contest is open to kids aged 18 and under. To participate in the Junior Jubilee Contest, kids must register with UF/IFAS Extension Washington County Office between 2/18/25 and 3/7/25. Upon signing up, kids will receive seeds, a grower log sheet, and growing guide. Through the Spring the kids will grow their own melons and record their progress on the log sheet. They will bring their log sheet along with their 2 biggest melons to enter into the contest on designated intake days (6/18-19). All kids who bring a melon back for the contest will be recognized at the melon auction on Saturday, June 21st. Prizes will be given for the 10 biggest melons in the youth division, including a $200 grand prize!
Junior Jubilee Contestants Aubrey and Blake showing off some of the melons they grew for the 2024 Junior Jubilee Contest. Photo Credit: Mark Mauldin
There will be a “How to Grow Watermelons” class for kids & parents at the Washington County Ag Center in Chipley, at 5:30 PM, on February 18th to help kickoff the Junior Jubilee program. Attendance is not required to participate in the contest.
There is no cost to enter a melon into the contest. However, melons entered in the contest are donated to the festival and will be sold via auction. Proceeds of the auction help off-set the costs of next year’s festival. All contest melons will be on display during the festival and their variety, weight, and grower will be announced during the auction.
Melons being entered in the contest must be delivered to the Washington County Ag Center during the designated intake period. Melons will be received and weighed-in at the Ag Center Wednesday 6/18 between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM and Thursday 6/19 between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM central time. If you plan to enter a melon, be sure to check the average days from seed to harvest and plan accordingly. For example, Jubilee melons take 90-100 days so must be planted by March 7th for ripe melons to be available by June 18th.
The 2025 Panhandle Watermelon Festival is a free event and is scheduled for Friday June 20th and Saturday June 21st, in Chipley, FL. Friday night includes concerts and kids’ activities at Jim Trawick Park (1544 N Railroad Ave, Chipley, FL 32428). Saturday’s eventsinclude a parade downtown in the morning then vendor booths, kids’ activities, and the watermelon auction (and contest winners announced) at the Washington County Ag Center (1424 Jackson Ave. Chipley, FL 32428) after the parade.
Photo: M. Mauldin, UF/IFAS
The watermelon auction will begin at 12:00 noon central time on Saturday followed by the last concert of the festival.
If you have any questions regarding the contest, contact Mark Mauldin at the UF/IFAS Extension, Washington County Office (850-638-6180 ormdm83@ufl.edu).
For details about the Panhandle Watermelon Festival, please visit the event organizer’s website and/or Facebook pages.
Gardening in the Panhandle LIVE! is launching Season 6 with new topics starting on March 6, 2025! Each episode is delivered live on Zoom Webinar then posted to our YouTube Playlist. If you would like to join us live and help drive the panel discussion, be sure to click on the title below to register and submit your questions a few days prior to air date.
Learn how to incorporate edible plants into your landscape. Whether your goal is a large vegetable garden or one tree with edible fruit, we can help you find ways to make your landscape a source of fresh food!
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Flowering bulbs can create dramatic impact in the landscape, but some have specific requirements that might not fit our climate and soil conditions. Learn how to select the right ones for your North Florida landscape!
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