Bike-A-Bee Workshop

A guest blog post by Corey Henry of Catered by Design and Chelsey Bobella of Big Delicious Planet (All photography by Corey Henry)

As spring turns into summer, so many exciting changes are in the air from warmer weather to social outings and beyond. One part of the warmer seasons that may be a bane for some are the bugs, and while one fuzzy flying visitor may intimidate some, they are an important part of our environmental ecosystem. Of course we’re talking about bees!

From honeybees to native bees, the protection of bee populations has become exceedingly crucial as their habitats are negatively impacted by urbanization, climate change, and more. As noted by The Bee Conservancy, bees are “precious pollinators [that] are essential to the health and prosperity of countless ecosystems” and “are an essential part of our agriculture, pollinating many fruits, nuts, and vegetables.” The protection of bees and creating safe habitats for them is at the heart of Bike A Bee’s mission, a beekeeping project aimed at education, preservation, and sustainability.

Our members got the incredible opportunity to team up with Bike a Bee in a workshop involving painting bee boxes for the upcoming season! Through this workshop, we got to learn about the project’s history and products with its founder as well as learn more about the facility in which Bike a Bee is located called The Plant.

Bike A Bee

Jana Kinsman started Bike a Bee with a passion for beekeeping, sustainability, and community. Noted by Kinsman on her website, “Bike a Bee is an urban beekeeping project with about 100 hives placed in community gardens, schools, urban farms, and other shared, visible spaces.” After taking beekeeping classes and doing an apprenticeship out in Oregon, she utilized her newfound knowledge and skills to bring her passion to fruition. While out in Oregon, she and her mentor went around to his established bee yards that were housed at schools, gardens, and backyards including his own which inspired Jana to implement the same methods here in Chicago. 

With a bike and a love for bees, Bike a Bee was born! Kinsman bikes to her hives and sells the byproducts in her own shop both online and at markets. With over 50 beehives and counting, we were thrilled as a collective to be able to help Kinsman in her mission.

Kinsman invited our GWA members to a beehive painting workshop in which she taught us how to properly paint the boxes so that the bees can have an attractive and healthy home to stay in for the summer. Painting the boxes serves both a practical function as well as an aesthetic one. The color helps bees remember where the home is! Once their inside their box, they can make their honey safely after they’ve done their pollinating. As another beautiful Chicago morning brought a bit of sun and a breeze, our GWA members got to work by painting multiple, thick coats over the boxes to be able to withstand being outdoors. Laughter mingled among the cohort as we all shared in lighthearted banter about work, life, and of course, bees all while helping contribute to making beautiful homes for the important creatures.

Once we were finished painting, Kinsman showed us her workspace within The Plant which was a beekeeper’s sanctuary that smelled of fresh honey and housed all of her equipment. She taught us the different kinds of housing and combs that help bees make their honey as well as showed us some of the final products that come from her wonderful efforts such as raw honey and lip balm.

The Plant

Bike a Bee is just one of the wonderful organizations located in The Plant, a renovated meatpacking facility in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood. The Plant is a collaborative community of small food businesses from brewers to confectioners to micro green farmers focused on sustainability and a circular economy. 

The building itself is a refurbished 100-year-old pork packing plant with a rich Chicago history. John Edel, founder of Bubbly Dynamics, owns and operates the Plant as an effort of his business to “[direct] the design and build-out of tenant spaces, common areas, and infrastructure projects to maximize efficiencies of the building and site” and “create replicable models for ecologically responsible and sustainable urban industrial development.” Edel purchased the building in 2010 and has been renovating it since with incredible infrastructure feats to repurpose waste as a resource that would typically come from such a large building. During the remodel of the facility, they also repurposed assets left behind by the previous owner such as large HVAC pieces that now serve as planters to introduce greenery into common spaces within the building.

The Plant is home to 19 businesses and counting with just shy of 100 people working in the building on any given day. These businesses while varied in their disciplines are all connected through their conscious sustainability efforts in the production of their services. If you’re curious to learn all about The Plant, it’s house businesses, and its venue space, visit their website here!

Signature Cocktail

Now that you know how the honey gets made and where, try it out for yourself! Bike-A-Bee sells the honey made from its healthy hives over the season for customers to purchase from 10oz jars to 2oz jars. With that honey, you can make a honey simple syrup for the classic cocktail: the Bee’s Knees!

This cocktail is perfect for both a sunny summer day and a sophisticated social party. The Bee’s Knees is also a wonderful choice for a signature cocktail at your wedding!

Want to Get Involved?

We want to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to Jana Kinsman for leading the workshop and John Edel for giving us a tour of The Plant! Our members learned so much during their workshop and tour and we’re so excited to help do some good for the community.

If you’re interested in visiting The Plant yourself, they are holding Centennial Celebrations at their facility on July 19th from 12-8pm to celebrate the longstanding history of the building that now houses so many incredible businesses. There are two public tours scheduled for 2pm and 5pm. Learn more by visiting their website here!