If you're a Green City Market regular or frequent the Logan Square or Oak Park farmer's markets, you've probably seen the Chicago Honey Co-op's products. Perhaps you've tasted their honey and know it's some of the tastiest around.
What you may not know is that the organization provides jobs for the underemployed and practices chemical-free, sustainable agriculture from an unassuming lot on the city's west side.
In addition to honey, the co-op offers a variety of candles and body products, as well as beeswax-dipped pine cone firestarters. Its products are also available online and at several Chicago retailers.
It was featured in "Every Third Bite," a short film about Colony Collapse Disorder – the abrupt disappearance of worker bees – and local beekeepers who are working to keep the practice alive.
On Thursday, Director Michael Thompson, with staff from Millennium Park's Lurie Garden, will give a free lecture entitled "Urban Beekeeping: From the Rooftops to the West Side" at the Cultural Center (78 E. Washington). The event starts at 6 p.m. and is sponsored by Slow Food Chicago.
Related: Hard Honey to Go: Honibe Honey Drops
(Images: Chicago Honey Co-op)