Local Beekeeper Saving Bees, Serving Honey at Farmers Market

After multiple classes, a year of construction and countless hours of networking, Brian Loomis has found himself in charge of tens of thousands of lovely ladies —female bees, that is.

Loomis, a 15-year resident of Bolingbrook and a caretaker to nearly 30 beehives, has taken up the hobby of beekeeping over the past few years and has even started his own business, Bolingbrook Honeybee Farms, Inc.

Each week, Loomis takes his beehive-designed bus (the bus-hive?) to the road and sets up shop at The Promenade’s weekly farmers market, which runs every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the parking lot in front of the Ulta store.

In recent decades, honeybee populations have been in drastic decline and no one really knows why, Loomis said. Some people blame herbicides or fungicides, while others blame cell phones or new diseases.

Some consider bees a pest — their sting can be painful — so why should we care if there are less of them? 

Beautiful flowers and trees, but more importantly fruits and vegetables, depend on pollinators such as bees in order to reproduce. Hence, bees play a vital role in feeding the human race.

"I realized I hadn't seen bees in the yard for two to three years," Loomis said. "I thought that was unusual."

After doing research and talking to experts, Loomis discovered the number of managed hives in Illinois 25 years ago was in excess of 100,000. Now the number may have decreased to less than 20,000, he said.

Loomis took instructional classes in beekeeping at a local park district, and in the spring of 2009, he started his beekeeping endeavor in his back yard with three hives. Two years later he has 29 hives in five area towns and is working closely with a number of local organizations.

"The neighbors love it," Loomis said of the pollinating work done in his neighborhood by his female workers bees, which he sensitively calls "the girls."

He said the female bees do the work of locating and collecting plant pollen, which later is turned into honey in the hives.

"The girls" also have pleased larger neighbors such as The Children's Farm in Palos Park, where the pumpkin fields have been growing tremendously, he said.

Loomis has supported the costs of his beekeeping hobby through sales of his hives' honey. He can be found almost every Saturday at the Bolingbrook Farmer's Market, not only  sharing his honey but also discussing the importance of protecting the entire honeybee species.

Loomis hopes to teach people how to understand and respect the importance of bees and how badly they need help. He also made it clear that the decrease in numbers of all insect populations should raise concerns. 

"If you drove down a country road 25 years ago, the bugs would be all over your windshield — you couldn't see," Loomis said. "You do that now, and hardly any bugs."

He said that as people begin to realize the importance of bees, they'll find there are a lot of ways they can help. Being cautious about the chemicals we use in and around the house can be a great starting point, he said. 

And, he said, people must learn to be respectful of the bees around us.

"The biggest thing I tell people is they won't bother you if you don't bother them," Loomis said. "It's hard to say not to swat [at the bees], but stay calm and resist it."