Home & Garden

The not-so-secret life of bees

Mirsad Spahovic stands outside at the North Park Village Nature Center with his boxes filled with bees.

When Mirsad Spahovic hears a bee buzzing near his head, he pauses, cocks his head, and smiles.

“Music,” he says.

Spahovic is standing outside of North Park Village Nature Center (5801 N. Pulaski Road) in front of seven boxes that look like file cabinets, all of which are full of bees. He volunteers here as a beekeeper, but he’s much more than that. Spahovic, 55, is also the founder of the Roosevelt High School’s Beekeeping Club. Each week, the economics teacher works with zoology teacher Pedro Allegre to teach 20 to 30 students in the Albany Park-area high school about beekeeping.

“The beekeepers say, ‘You keep bees for two years; they continue to keep you for life,’” said Spahovic, who remembers being interested in bees even as a child, when the most he knew of the insect was its powerful sting.

In 2004, he decided to share the hobby with his students. The Beekeeping Club teaches the students how to feed and care for bees and how to safely remove their honey, which they then bottle, market and sell at an annual event called Roosevelt International Night. The money they raise goes back into the beekeeping program. The club also donated hives to Loyola University and helped them begin a beekeeping club.

The Beekeeping Club at Roosevelt is active at the same time of year the bees are active — that is, when it’s warmer than 40 degrees. In the winter, the bees are on their own. They remain in their boxes, outside, and cluster together, buzzing, vibrating and moving to stay warm.

“In the winter you don’t do anything,” said Spahovic. “You just pray.”

In those cold months, many of the bees die, Spahovic said. But in the warm months, at the peak of their reproduction cycles in May, the seven hives could hold between 40,000 and 60,000 bees each.

Spahovic said the bees do well in Chicago, and, particularly, at North Park Village Nature Center, where they’re surrounded by a 46-acre nature preserve, full of trees, bushes, flowers and, of course, pollen.

Beekeeping is becoming more popular in cities across the United States, with beekeepers enlisting their backyards and even roofs as a home to their hives. In Chicago, there are beekeeping Meetup groups, beekeeping classes, beekeeping clubs and even a beekeeping co-op (chicagohoneycoop.com). Chicago is a microcosm of the increase of “urban” beekeeping across the country. While some people assume cities would make a challenging (and polluted) environment for the insects, Sydney Barton, a board member of the Chicago Honey Co-op, said that is a misnomer.

“It is incorrect to assume that an urban environment is any more polluted than a rural one,” said Barton. “Some of the most toxic pesticides and herbicides are used in rural environments. Noise is not an issue [in the city] because bees can't hear.”
 
The Chicago Honey Co-op teaches beekeeping classes and hosts a bee farm, located in North Lawndale, to educate Chicago residents and spread awareness about beekeeping. Barton tells students that before setting up a beehive, they should be aware of their surroundings — and be aware of concerned neighbors. To keep bees in any environment — urban or rural — Barton said you need good and plentiful nectar and pollen sources within a three-mile radius of the hive and a nearby source of water. Neighbors with gardens, fountains and pools may be getting quite a few bee visitors.

“Honeybees are not aggressive insects and are focused on gathering nectar and pollen. Accidents can happen if a beekeeper doesn't keep a reliable source of water and the bees go to, say, the kiddy pool next door, or the drip from an air conditioner or outdoor faucet. The bees won't actually spend much time in the neighbors’ yards unless they have a lot of good nectar plants,” said Barton.

Barton said people become involved with beekeeping for a variety of reasons.

“Some of our beekeeping students have become interested in beekeeping as part of a move to self sufficiency; others have become interested in it as a fascinating hobby,” says Barton. “Really, there are almost as many reasons as there are beekeepers.”

The growth also comes in response to Colony Collapse Disorder — the title given to the mysterious global loss of millions of bees in recent years. Some experts believe Colony Collapse Disorder is a result of the increasing monoculture of crops, along with the increase in use of pesticides. Bees need a variety of pollen to thrive, and factory farms, with their fields upon fields of the same crops (soy and corn) have compromised that variety.

Bees are important when it comes to producing wax, which is used in candles and skin care products, and honey, which is used as a sweetener and has qualities known to help with allergies, soothe sore throats and  even act as a cough suppressant (note: honey should never be given to a child younger than 1). The insects are also vital when it comes to our ecosystem. Our fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers require pollination — which has always been the responsibility of the bee.

Spahovic teaches his students about the importance of bees and emphasizes the power that humans have to both hurt and heal nature.

“The purpose of this education is to encourage teenagers to be aware of their surroundings and help nature,” he said.

Spahovic recommends that aspiring beekeepers spend a year working as an apprentice with a beekeeper. But he said you can also learn a lot from books and even YouTube videos.

He admits that beekeeping, for him, is addictive. When asked why it’s so powerful, he searches for the words.

“It’s somehow like — do you have a dog or a cat? Why do you have them? They’re nice to have around. I spent this time around the bees,” he said, still searching for the right words. “It’s a joy, fulfillment, and something that really connects you to your home.”

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