Bees in Chicago: How urban beekeepers are impacting the city
You might not hear them over honking horns, but bees are busy making honey across Chicago. In neighborhoods like Englewood, they forage on wildflowers growing in community gardens, producing honey with hyper-local flavor. FOX 32’s Justine Baker follows one beekeeper who’s proving that urban apiaries aren’t just possible, they’re essential.
CHICAGO – You may not hear them over the sound of traffic, but bees are busy making honey across the city – and their keepers are just as hardworking.
The backstory:
One local beekeeper started her business without a car, hauling equipment around Chicago by bicycle and trailer. That’s how owner, Jana Kinsman started ‘Bike-a-Bee’, by transporting hives and tools across neighborhoods to build the operation from the ground up.
What we know:
In the spring, as temperatures rise about 45 degree, bees emerge from winter dormancy and begin foraging. That’s when the work really begins. Beekeepers start splitting hives, ordering new queens from southern breeders and multiplying colonies. The goal? To strength Chicago’s urban bee population, one hive at a time.
Local perspective:
“Urban beekeeping is this extra special thing,” Kinsman said. “A lot of people think city and wildlife don’t mix but honestly, there’s more natural diversity here than in some rural areas.”
In neighborhoods like Englewood, wildflowers like clover, chicory and dandelions grow freely on vacant lots, giving honey a unique, hyper-local flavor. Honey harvested from linden tress in the summer, for example, has a bright, electric, minty taste – a flavor profile Kinsman described as “world class.”
“Whatever bees find, they’re eating,” she explained. “And each neighborhood gives the honey its own flavor.”
Why you should care:
Kinsman later explains how crucial pollination is to the ecosystem. “It’s how fruit is made. It completes the reproductive cycle for plants. Without bees, native or kept, we won’t have food.”
What you can do:
Kinsman hopes more young people take an interest in the practice. Each year, her organization offers apprenticeships to teach others the craft. Despite the job’s physical demands like long days in the heat and heavy lifting, she says it’s worth it.
“Chicago is incredibly supportive of its beekeepers. There are hives on top of City Hall. If someone wants to start beekeeping here, the hardest part is just getting started.”
The Source: The information in this story was provided by Jana Kinsman from Bike-a-Bee Chicago.