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CLC celebrates new home for bees on campus

Buzzing bees set the tone for the crowd gathered Tuesday to see College of Lake County's new learning apiary and bee colony at the Grayslake campus.

Students, staff, faculty, and administrators learned about the various types of beehives, the benefits of bees and honey, and worldwide threats to bees and impacts from climate change.

CLC student Bernard Kondenar of Antioch developed the apiary at the campus arboretum near the horticulture building as part of a summer independent study project. Beekeeper Edward Popelka will be the steward of the apiary that will be home to 8 to 10 hives.

"The reason we're looking to raise so much awareness about the bees is that we know that one out of every three bites of food that goes into your mouth you owe to a pollinator," Kondenar said while describing the bee hive styles in the apiary. "We developed a plan here to make the best possible environment for these bees and their survivability."

Each hive supports 40,000 to 80,000 honey bees and produces 20 to 80 pounds of honey that will be sold at CLC's weekly farm market.

  Honey on a frame taken from a bee hive at the College of Lake County's new learning apiary on the Grayslake campus. The apiary includes 8 to 10 beehives so students and the community can learn about bees, their habitat, and their importance to food production. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
  College of Lake County student Bernard Kondenar of Antioch describes the features of a beehive made from a dead log in the school's new learning apiary that was introduced Tuesday during a presentation at the Grayslake campus. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
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