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#6 – Ground Nesting Bee Garden

The sixth stop on the Bee Trail, located behind the Alumni Memorial Hall is the Native Bee Nesting Garden, which holds the title of being McMaster’s first garden dedicated to ground-nesting bees. This location and home was constructed in 2023 by students from SUSTAIN 3S03 in collaboration with the Academic Sustainability Programs Office, McMaster Grounds, Nature at McMaster, the McMaster Biology Greenhouse and the Dr. Susan Dudley Bee Lab from the Department of Biology. This location has flowers, shrubs, greenery, bare ground, and a sand pit for rare bees, making it a unique and grand bee home.

 

Fun Fact: 70 percent of all solitary native bees in Canada nest in the ground! That makes suitable bare ground for nesting sites critical to their success. (1)

 

Species Highlight: Mining Bees (Andrenidae: Andrena) are solitary pollinators that emerge in early spring and build underground nests in bare soil, often near early-blooming plants like willows. These gentle bees rarely sting and play a vital role in pollinating some of the first flowers of the season. (2)

Local Native Bee Spotlight: The Smooth-faced Miner Bee (Andrena miserabilis) is a local species of mining bee found in our area!

 

References:

  1. Agriculture, C., & Canada, A.-F. (2014). Native Pollinators and Agriculture in Canada. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada = Agriculture et agroalimentaire Canada. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/aac-aafc/A59-12-2014-eng.pdf
  2. Andrena – or mining – bees | Wild Pollinator Partners [Internet]. Wildpollinators-pollinisateurssauvages.ca. 2024 [cited 2024 Nov 25]. Available from: https://wildpollinators-pollinisateurssauvages.ca/2018/02/08/andrena-bees/