Terry Collins writes:
What was the recommended method of hand fertilising pumpkins? I've had
to stop the kids running fingers around inside the flower as they were
always finding 1 or 2 bees already in there.

Pick the male flower, carefully strip off and discard the petals, and
rub the pollen-tipped bit that's left onto the central bit inside the
female flower. Use the one male flower to pollinate any number of female
flowers.

Q2 - Does anyone know the name of the orange & black bug that like
Horehound?

It's name is Mike, I think. Or maybe it's Bertie, I just forget. :-)

A quick google (horehound pests) led to www.agric.nsw.gov.au and this:

Horehound bug, Agonoscelis rutila, is usually found on the weed
horehound. Sometimes it swarms on foliage and blossoms of fruit trees
and ornamental plants but normally causes little injury. The adult is
about 12 mm long and bright orange, with black marks on the upper and
lower surfaces of the body.

--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")