New Pollinator Boxes!
Senior Environment Corps (SEC) recently constructed new nest boxes for our pollinator gardens using COVID-19 CDC social distancing guidelines. These boxes mimic the typical nesting habitat for native species such as leafcutter bees and mason bees, who often make nests in old beetle tunnels in standing dead wood. Females create partitions along the length of the holes to create a line of brood cells. These boxes are supplementing an increasingly rare habitat as dead wood is often removed in modern landscapes. These native bee species are some of our most important pollinators of the garden, in addition to various moths, butterflies, flies and beetles.
Our pollinator gardens are located at 3 sites: Mashpee Community Gardens, Jehu Pond Conservation Area, and Pickerel Cove Recreation Area.
Please visit XERCES.org for information on how to create your own nesting habitats for native bees (these are only one type!), how to create your own pollinator garden and how to maintain your yard to benefit pollinators of all kinds!
