Urban Bee Farming in Salt Lake City

The Main Library has a new addition: two hives full of hard working bees. Housed in the rooftop garden courtyard, roughly 40,000 Western European honeybees are hard at work inside two Langstroth hives producing wax and honey. Inhabited by female workers that forage pollen and make honey, and by male drones that support the reproduction of the queen, the hives will be on the roof until late fall, when they’ll be taken away to be safely stored for the winter.

The hives can be viewed from the staircase between the Main Library’s fourth and fifth floors. The City Library’s staff is happy to find answers to any questions you may have about beekeeping, honey production and the importance of pollinators. Drop by this summer, and check out what the buzz is all about.

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