Pollinator-Friendly Hamilton

Introducing Pollinator-Friendly Hamilton

Thanks to a grant from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, and in cooperation with the New Jersey Audubon Society and Mercer County Parks Commission, the Hamilton Township Environmental Commission and Green Team are launching Pollinator-Friendly Hamilton.

Pollinators, especially bees, butterflies and birds, are vital agents of the human food supply. Without pollinators, the survival of many of the crops essential to human survival would be in peril. And, today, due to loss of habitat from human activity, overuse of pesticides and other chemicals deadly to pollinators, increasingly frequent extreme weather events, and climate in-action, pollinators are in peril.

Over the next several months we will be offering:

  1. Educational presentations for all ages, about the importance of pollinators, the dangers they face, and how we can all help restore their populations to sustainable health.
  2. Opportunities for residents of all ages to volunteer in creating pollinator-friendly habitats, in our public spaces, in our wild spaces, and on our own properties.
  3. Discounts through our local merchants for pollinator-friendly garden kits, seedlings, seeds, and supplies. Pollinator-Friendly Hamilton will be a more sustainable, more vibrant, more beautiful Hamilton than ever before.
  1. Creating a Butterfly Puddler
  2. Emerging Milkweed
  3. Hummingbirds 101: Feeder Care, Ethics & Garden Tips
  4. Best Plants to Attract Hummingbirds
  5. Bees Are Awesome!
  6. Invasive Species & Pollinators Webinar
  7. Pollinators for Kids
  8. Did You Know: Fritillaries
  9. Bringing Back the Bees, Butterflies & Birds
  10. Pollinator Conservation 101
  11. Get the Buzz on Bees
  12. Monarch Gardens & Community Action
  13. Abbott Marshlands

Creating a Butterfly PuddlerDid you know that butterflies, especially males, like to congregate on wet sand and mud – partaking in “puddling” while drinking water and extracting minerals and salts from damp puddles.  These minerals and salts help to produce pheromones.  

Watch a video to learn how to add a Butterfly Puddling station to your home and don’t forget to leave out some rotting fruit which in turn will release gasses to entice and draw them in butterflies.