Meet the bees of the McCormick Place Rooftop Farm
…and try their honey!

Iris Michael (second from left), Fred Daniels (right), and Windy City Harvest apprentices after a successful honey harvest.

What does the taste of downtown Chicago mean to you?
Deep dish pizza? Garrett popcorn? What about local honey?

Meet the bees of Windy City Harvest’s McCormick Place Rooftop Farm, a ¾-acre urban farm on top of Chicago’s mammoth convention center, where more than 50,000 bees live in three hives added earlier this year. On August 6, Windy City Harvest staff harvested 65 pounds of honey from these hives—honey that’s being used by Oak View Group Hospitality in catered dishes at McCormick Place.

“I think it’s really beautiful to have a local product that reflects the ecology of your surroundings,” said Iris Michael, Rooftop Farm Coordinator and a burgeoning beekeeper. “The bees are collecting nectar from the flowers in a 2-mile radius, so you’re tasting your environment.” 

It's the literal taste of downtown Chicago.

Plus, some studies have shown that eating local honey might help alleviate allergy symptoms—and honey is known to have medicinal benefits ranging from reducing inflammation to antimicrobial properties. People have used honey for these purposes for more than 5,000 years, from ancient Greece to the Mayan civilization, and beekeeping has a long and fascinating history.

Iris is learning her beekeeping skills from Fred Daniels, site coordinator at Windy City Harvest’s Rodeo Farm, who has been beekeeping since 2012. Rodeo Farm hosts an additional seven hives; between their two locations, Fred and Iris processed more than 100 pounds of honey this August—a harvest they hope to see grow year over year.

First, the team carefully removes the honey frames from the beehives.

Iris Michael shows off one of the honey frames.

Then, honey frames are carefully transferred inside to be processed.

Watching Fred during the Rooftop Farm honey harvest was a master class in staying cool and collected; even for an onlooker not particularly afraid of bees and covered head to toe in a beekeeping suit, watching the bees swarm around him as he removed the honeycomb frames was a little unnerving. But Fred showed no signs of fear.

“I learned from the bees: The calmer you are, the calmer they’ll be,” Fred said. 

In fact, he finds the process relaxing. “At first I knew nothing about bees, but then I started reading about them, and I’ve been doing this ever since,” he said. “It’s kind of like farming; at first I didn’t see myself farming. But then I started doing it and it grew on me.”

Fred’s beekeeping protegee, Iris, is a born-and-bred gardener—named for the flower, raised by gardeners, and trained in agriculture, food systems, and environmental science at Loyola University. She views the Rooftop Farm as a way to contribute to local food systems, and the bees as a critical component of that mission.

Once inside, wax is uncapped from the honey frames by hand to release the honey and preserve the comb, so the bees can quickly resume their activities.

Frames are spun to release the honey.

Finally, the honey is extracted.

“Our food systems are getting more disrupted with climate change and global conflict, so having a really hyper-local food source—it’s not going to fix the entire food system, but everything we grow here goes to chefs on-site or gets donated locally,” Iris said.

The Rooftop Farm—one of the largest in the Midwest—produces an abundance of cucumbers, greens, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and more, including many heirloom varieties at risk of extinction. And the bees are doing an important job beyond making honey: They’re helping to pollinate all of these plants.

Next up?

Overwintering the beehives. This can be a challenge in Chicago’s climate, and honey bees in general can be easily wiped out by pests like varroa mites. But thanks to Fred, Iris, a team of Windy City Harvest apprentices, and the honey bees busy at work making a home on the McCormick Place rooftop—hope is high that the hives will thrive.

Taste it for yourself

Pick up a jar of Windy City Harvest Rodeo Farm honey at the Garden Shop, or in the market at Farm on Ogden while supplies last.

Visit our farms Come check out the McCormick Place Rooftop Farm, as well as Farm on Ogden, during Open House Chicago on October 18 and 19, 2025.

Windy City Harvest is the Chicago Botanic Garden’s urban agriculture program; by growing food, improving health, and creating job opportunities, we're helping build strong, vibrant neighborhoods that thrive.