Description

The Evanston Ecology Center has created an apiary near its McCormick Boulevard location to serve as home to 40,000 honey bees. 

The hives, located in Eggleston Park in Evanston, provide an opportunity for community members to learn about these industrious insects and and get up close and personal with them wearing bee suits provided by the Center. Smaller suits are also available for children's programs including the Ecology Center's environmental summer camps.

Honey bees are a big help to gardeners and farmers who depend on them to help fertilize a variety of plants. They also produce the honey that many of us enjoy in a large array of food offerings. 

Bee populations tends to dwindle during the colder months, so the Ecology Center staff works during the summer to build up the hive populations so that they are healthy enough to withstand the winter. 

The Ecology Center staff is looking into how the honey harvested from the bees can be productively used including the possiblity of selling the honey to the community. 

Much of the funding used to buy the materials, equipment, suits, and tools needed for the apiary has been provided by the Ecology Center's non-profit partner, the Evanston Environmental Association. 

Location

Information

For more information on the Ecology Center's apiary and related programs, call 847 448-8256 or come in and visit the Ecology Center at 2024 McCormick Blvd in Evanston.