Below is a summary of our upcoming workshops. The complete description of each one can be found on our website. Our workshops are an important part of what we do. We appreciate your past and future support of our workshops; the income supports other Arboretum educational endeavours such as brochures, signs, booklets, tours and our website.

If you know of people who may be interested in our workshops who do not receive this e-newsletter we would appreciate if you would pass this information on to them. To subscribe to the newsletter follow the simple instructions as outlined on our webpage at: http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/educationandevents/enewsletter.shtml

If you have a spot in your community or at your workplace where you can display our workshop posters, please send us an e-mail at [log in to unmask] and we will be happy to send them to you.

Below is a list of upcoming workshops at The Arboretum. Please forward this e-mail to your friends and colleagues! The more participants we have, the more programs we can offer.

Our registration is an on-line registration process which allows you to register for our programs at anytime. A secure link is provided for this easy registration process. Click here for the link: https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/educationandevents/register

Can you identify any of these tracks? All of these mammals likely occur in your neighbourhood, so see if you can figure them out. The mammals’ direction of movement is to the top of this page. And remember that you can’t tell what size they are from the photographs. And to make it worse, some have one footprint, some have two footprints and some have all four footprints in the photo. Answers are at the bottom of the newsletter and a printable version of the quiz is available my clicking here : http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/January_2018/printable_quiz_tracks_Jan_2018.pdf. 

If you want to learn more about winter tracks and the mammals that make them, check out our Tracking Workshop on January 28 or our Mammals of The Arboretum book (call Barb Watson -Ash at 519-824-4120-4120 ext. 52358 for details). Good luck!

Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a great holiday season and you are ready for what 2018 has to bring.

The Arboretum remains open all year long from dawn until dusk daily. Tess, our Horticultural Intern has been busy out on the grounds making some of our trails more accessible by grooming them. This makes the trails much more enjoyable to walk on. Unfortunately, we won't always be able to keep them groomed all the time but we will certainly do our best. We hope you are able to enjoy the grounds. Hopefully enough snow sticks around that snowshoeing and skiing are possible.

Our grounds staff have also been busy with many other winter duties. While some of their job does keep them in out of the cold in the winter months they still do work outside. Kellen and Tess were found outdoors just before the Christmas break removing some of the Ash trees that have been infested with Emerald Ash Borer.

Tess and Jason have also been working on the experiment with Kentucky Coffee Tree seeds and Elephants. They spent part of a day last week visiting the elephants and another part of a day sifting through the elephant dung. It will be interesting to see what is learned from this endeavor. For more information please refer to our November newsletter: https://www.listserv.uoguelph.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ARBNEWSLETTER2;1d4ded40.1711p#3

Rachel Irwin has returned as our Interpretive Naturalist Intern. She will be taking over many of the responsibilities that Jason has had including the Wednesday Noon Hour Walks which have now resumed. Jason is staying with us and will be working on new Arboretum interpretive endeavors until the end of April. Chris will be advertising and interviewing for our new Summer Interpretive Naturalist soon. The Project Feederwatch continues as well.

January is a month for planning. If you are planning a meeting or perhaps a personal event such as your wedding, anniversary party or other celebration than please contact our Bookings Co-ordinator, Dawn Ann Webster. She can give you information on our unique meeting / banquet room rentals. She can be reached at 519-824-4120 ext. 54110 or[log in to unmask](e-newseltter)"> [log in to unmask].

Although winter is much chillier there is no need to hide inside all the time. Come out and enjoy our grounds on foot, snowshoes or cross country skiis or register for one of our great workshops to learn more about owls, photography, animal tracks, trees and more .... Embrace the season!

by Rachel Irwin

Earlier in December, we had someone bring in the largest wasp nest I have ever seen (see top left photo below)! Larger than a basketball, we predict that this wasp nest may have held close to 400 wasps while it was active. So who are the architects behind this Taj Mahal of wasp nests? Both Aerial Yellowjackets (Dolichovespula arenaria) and Bald-Faced Hornets (Dolichovespula maculata) construct these large paper nests typically found in trees, shrubs and in the case of this massive nest, even houses! We predict that this nest was likely built by a colony of Bald-Faced Hornets (Dolichovespula maculata). But don’t be confused by their common name, the Bald-Faced Hornets are not “true hornets” and are in fact a species of yellowjacket! However, they do not have the typical yellow and black colouration we think of when we hear “yellowjacket.” Instead, their body is mainly black with white markings on its face, hence their name “bald-faced” (see headline photo above). Thankfully, this wasp nest was brought to us uninhabited but what happened to this large colony of bald-faced hornets? Where’d they all go?

Well, winter happened! Only new, mated queens that develop at the end of the summer overwinter, while the rest of the colony dies. But how do the yellowjacket queens survive our harsh winters? It's not by zipping up their jackets! In the winter we put antifreeze in our cars to lower the freezing point of water to help keep our engines running smoothly - these overwintering queens have a similar mechanism! A study by Duman and Patterson (1978) found that the Bald-Faced overwintering queens are able to withstand freezing down to temperatures of approximately -14°C by producing the alcohol glycerol along with antifreeze proteins which lowers the freezing point of the insect’s body fluid and protects cells from frost damage. Since we get temperatures much colder than -14°C, it is very important for the queen to find a protective place such as a hollow log or burrow to avoid the harsh winds and snowfall of winter. The future generation of the colony depends on their survival! That’s a lot of pressure on one wasp.

In the spring, if the queen overwinters successfully she will start building a new nest, typically high up in a tree, and will begin laying eggs. When the workers hatch, they begin helping to build the nest and raise the young. To construct the nest, the bald-faced hornets chew up bits of dried, dead wood and mix it with their saliva to apply it as a paper pulp. Even Bald-Faced Hornets recycle! If you look closely at a nest, you will be able to see different colourations, reflecting the different sources of wood used (see top right photo below). The wasps do not reuse an old nest. Most nests do not survive the winter as they are blown away in harsh winds and destroyed. These abandoned nests are often destroyed by birds who are searching for food such as larvae or adults that died in the fall. They may also use parts of the paper nests to help build their own nests. How environmentally friendly! Educational Intern, Jason Chan, found one of the nests broken on the ground and after observing it he found a dead worker wasp enclosed in a cell (see bottom photo below). This summer we found three bald-faced hornet nests in trees at The Arboretum, some of which may still be there! We wish the overwintering queens the best of luck in this very cold winter we are experiencing!

                    

References:
Duman, J. G., and J. L., Patterson. (1978). The role of ice nucleators in the frosts tolerance of overwintering queens of the bald faced hornet. ScienceDirect, 59(1):69-72.
Marshall, S. (2017). Insects: Their natural history and diversity (2nd ed.). Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books.

A printable version of this article is available at: http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/January_2018/January_2018_Article_Rachel_Irwin_wasps.pdf

Did you forget to purchase a calendar for your desk or have discovered it would be helpful to have one? The Arboretum can help you with that. We still have some 2018 desktop calendars available for $12 each (including tax). Each month includes a gorgeous photo of a plant or site on The Arboretum grounds. If you are interested in purchasing one please stop by The Arboretum Centre during business hours, call Barb at 519-824-4120 ext. 52358 or email [log in to unmask]

         

Congratulations to all of you that were engaged over the Holiday Season! If you or someone you know is looking for a space for your wedding ceremony and / or reception please contact Dawn Ann Webster at 519-824-4120 ext. 54110 or [log in to unmask]. Further information on our unique reception facilities and outdoor ceremony sites can be found on our website.

 
West Lawn                                       Auditorium

Join Rachel Wednesdays at 12:15 for the Wednesday walk as she explores the grounds on a 50 minute hike. It is a wonderful way to explore the winter wonderland that The Arboretum grounds has been transformed into. The walk is free and you should meet at the kiosk at the end of the promenade closest to campus if you are interested in participating.

The recent frigid temperatures may have kept some people inside, but not all! Our 39th Arboretum Winter Bird Count had 6 participants, all braving the -30C windchill to count our birdies. Interesting sightings included 2 Ruffed Grouse, 2 White-throated Sparrows and 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers. We also found a flock of 125 Pine Siskins feeding on Eastern Hemlock seeds. No frostbite recorded! The recent big thaw and rain put a damper on our animal tracking fun but new snow in the forecast will bring a white palette for our furry and feathered artists to decorate. Many of our plants still sport colourful berries to attract winter birds so be sure to check our junipers, bittersweet, corktrees and sumacs for American Robins and Cedar Waxwings.

 
Red-bellied Woodpecker            American Bittersweet
photo by Chris Earley                 photo by Chris Earley

Be a part of the BetterPlanet Project by donating on-line:

Your donation can be directed to The Arboretum online through the secure University of Guelph donation page: http://uofg.convio.net/arboretum

If you prefer not to make an online donation, there are several other ways to provide your financial support. You can choose to donate by telephone, mail, fax, or in person:

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH Attention Alumni Affairs 50 Stone Road East Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Tel: 1-888-266-3108 ext. 56934 Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 56934 Fax: 519-822-2670 Email: [log in to unmask]

If you would like information on bequests and planned giving to The Arboretum please contact:

Amy Atkinson
Senior Development Manager, Ontario Agricultural College
at (519) 824-4120 ext. 58652 or by e-mail at [log in to unmask]