McMaster University recognizes that the University and surrounding Hamilton area, including their nature spaces, are situated on traditional territories shared between the Haudenosaunee confederacy and Anishnaabe nations. These lands are protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum belt. The wampum uses the symbolism of a dish to represent the territory, and one spoon to represent that the people are to share the resources of the land and only take what they need.
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Nature @ McMaster

Stop#5 – The Phoenix

Located outside The Phoenix Bar and Grill is the fifth stop on the Bee Trail, where five native bee homes have been installed. Like many of the other bee homes, these too have been constructed from pine wood and filled with paper tubes to provide safe, solitary homes for native bee species to nest. These solitary homes were installed in 2019 by Facilities Services in collaboration with the Academic Sustainability Program’s Office. This initiative was part of the 100in1day event, a movement that has aims to maximize the potential of their city through urban interventions and sustainability.

 

Fun Fact: Female squash bees transport pollen in a unique way, using a specialized brush of hairs on their hind legs to carry it dry (1).

 

Species Highlight: Squash bees get to work at dawn and finish by noon when the flowers close, while many sweat bees are still active during twilight. No Ontario bees work at night! (2)

Local Native Bee Spotlight: The Hoary Long-horned Bee (Peponapis pruinosa) is our only local species of squash specialist bee found in our area! It is also a provincially rare species in Ontario.

 

References:

  1. Squash Bees [Internet]. www.fs.usda.gov. Available from: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/squash_bees.shtml 
  2. Chan S, Raine N. Introduction to Native Pollinators on Farms in Ontario [Internet]. Farms at Work. 2018. Available from: https://farmsatwork.ca/sites/default/files/Fact%20Sheet%20%231%20Introduction%20to%20Native%20Pollinators%20on%20Ontario%20Farms_1.pdf