Located at the Indigenous Circle, the seventh stop on the Bee Trail is made up of five native bee homes, and similarly is constructed from pine wood and filled with paper tubes.  Installed on October 28, 2021, by Facility Services and the Fall 2021 SUSTAIN 3S03 Team, the area is surrounded by White Pine trees, Queen Anne’s Lace, Creeping Thistle, Devil’s Beggar Tick, Goldenrods, Lance-leaf Asters, and White Snakeroot. These plants provide a diverse foraging habitat for native bees. In 2022 a live stream camera was added to monitor the homes.

 

Fun Fact:  Bee societies vary! While honey bees form large colonies with queens, most Ontario native bees are solitary, where each female creates her own nest, gathers food, and cares for her offspring without a hive structure. (1)

 

Species Highlight: Longhorn female bees  have pale thoracic hairs and black abdomens, while males feature long antennae and yellow clypei, thriving in disturbed habitats like roadsides. (2)

Local Native Bee Spotlight: The Thistle Long-horned Bee (Melissodes desponsus) is a local species of long-horned bee found in our area and is a specialist in pollinating thistles!

 

References:

1. 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
2. Thistle longhorn bee (Melissodes desponsus) – Bee Watching [Internet]. Bee Watching – Learn how to identify native bees. 2023 [cited 2024 Nov 25]. Available from: https://watchingbees.com/species-accounts/melissodes-desponsus/