1953Sudbury Valley Trustees2013Celebrating 60 Years of Conservation, Collaboration and Community

Removing and constructively using an invasive plant species was the name of the game in a two-part effort by Sudbury scout groups and SVT.  In late May, members of the Sudbury Cub Scout Pack 62, Den 12 visited SVT’s Centennial Place in Framingham.  Equipped with loppers and knowledge of the invasive characteristics of Japanese Knotweed, they helped clear a small hill of the fast-growing non-native.  Then, with great enthusiasm, they boys developed techniques like “the can-opener” to trim the knotweed’s hollow stems into 3-4" pieces.  

Using these knotweed pieces, members of the Sudbury Brownie Troop #77134 set to work to build bee hotels at SVT’s Wolbach Farm on June 8th.  While we’ve all heard of the plight of the honey bee, there is another bee, the orchard mason, that is native and is an excellent pollinator.  Orchard mason bees don’t build their own hives, but instead move into holes and crevices.  If we want them to hang around and help pollinate our gardens, why not make them a hotel?  The Brownies first assembled wooden frames and then stuffed their boxes with the dried pieces of Japanese knotweed.  What a fun way to use a non-native resource!