I hand pollinated my squash at the first of the season last year because for some reason at the first of the season I have more female than male flowers and since I planted early the bees weren't buzzing. I've found hand pollinating gets me through until the male flowers starting blooming and the bees are out. I pull off the male flower, fold back the leaves, and just rub the male parts on the female parts. I guess doing it with a q-tip is neater but I haven't noticed that I waste much pollen doing it my way. If you have a lot of rain hand pollinating works best too.
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