CHAPTER 1 Getting from Hive to Honey Welcome to Madison state capital of Wisconsin This college town swarms with energy It hosts one of the largest farmers markets in the United States It boasts five lakes over 260 parks and the largest concentration of Native American effigy mounds in the country It’s also home to Mad Urban Bees one of the first urban apiaries in the country Travel with us to the Badger State to meet the beekeeper behind the hives Nathan Clarke Nathan will teach us about what it takes to own and operate a commercial beekeeping business in the middle of a busy city 4 21st century skills library
Madison is Wisconsin’s state capital and second largest city 5 5
Bees pollinate a wide variety of flowers including fruit-bearing plants 6
What’s the buzz on honeybees These pollinators are key to our food supply Bees fly from plant to plant for nectar In the process they spread pollen and fertilize the flowering parts of plants This allows the plant to produce seeds fruits or vegetables Many of the foods we eat from almonds to apples need bees for pollination Without the work of bees and other pollinators the stalls at farmers markets and the shelves at grocery stores would look very different and very colorless So what’s the buzz on beekeepers Nathan is part of a tradition that dates back thousands of years Beekeepers manage hives to collect beeswax bee pollen and honey In different times and places these bee by-products served different purposes Ancient people sealed and waterproofed pottery with beeswax The wax was also used to make tools cosmetics and medicine Today many people take bee pollen to help manage seasonal allergies And of course honey has been used for millennia as a sweetener 7 Nature’s Makers
