Buzz on over to the 'Secret Lives of Bees' exhibit

The Forest Preserve District’s premier honeybee hub is about to get busier as the “Bee-lieve it or Not! The Secret Lives of Bees” exhibit opens on Saturday, Sept. 1, at Plum Creek Nature Center in Crete Township.

The traveling Purdue University exhibit will run through Friday, Nov. 30, at the nature center, which is also home to a live honeybee hive and beekeeping programs.

The free exhibit is designed to help people who are curious about bees:
• Learn what makes a honeybee a honeybee.
• Discover why pollination is important.
• Read about the threats to honeybees.
• Play a video game and learn who is a pollinator.
• Uncover the differences between bees and wasps.
• Learn about honey and beeswax.

To welcome the arrival of the exhibit, a special program called “It’s Bee Friends Day!” will be held from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Sunday, September 2. A local beekeeper will be stationed at the nature center's beehive, and a naturalist will be conducting fun outdoor pollinator activities. The free program is for all ages. Registration is required for groups of 10 or more; call 708-946-2216.

The Forest Preserve is hosting the honeybee exhibit to further educate visitors about these prolific pollinators and complement permanent bee-oriented displays, said Kate Caldwell, an interpretive naturalist.

“The reason we picked this exhibit is because we have an indoor observational honeybee hive,” she said. “This exhibit perfectly enhances what we already have.”

The exhibit will appeal to children in prekindergarten through fifth grade and their families. The “Secret Lives of Bees” was organized by the Purdue Agricultural Exhibit Design Center and is brought to the Forest Preserve through funding provided by The Nature Foundation of Will County.

Exhibit hours are: Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sundays, noon-4 p.m.; closed Mondays.

For more information on this exhibit and other Forest Preserve offerings, visit ReconnectWithNature.org.