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Know someone with a green job and a good story? Tell us about them!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Michael Thompson has the sticky—but deeply satisfying—job of wrangling bees on Chicago’s west side.Krysia HaagMeet Michael Thompson, 62, professional bee wrangler and co-founder of Chicago Honey Co-op<\/a>, a Chicago-based agricultural cooperative that’s dedicated to chemical-free beekeeping, growing community, and entrepreneurial dreams of garlic.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Q. How does the Chicago Honey Co-op work?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. You can buy a hive and put it there and <\/p>\n Q. What were you hoping to accomplish with the co-op? <\/p>\n A. Producing <\/p>\n Q. What long and winding road led you to where you are today—as director of the Chicago Honey Co-op?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. I’d say it started in southern Kansas when I was a child. <\/p>\n By the time I was 12, I had badgered my parents for a bee Q. Are your friends jealous of your job?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. Yeah, often. A friend, Diane, just kept saying, “You’re so lucky. You have such <\/p>\n Q. Do you see yourself doing this kind of work for the rest <\/p>\n A. I do. I made a commitment to myself to grow food on a <\/p>\n Q. What about your bee farm sets you apart from conventional <\/p>\n A. I was a bee inspector for the state of Illinois when I <\/p>\n So when we decided to start [the Chicago Honey <\/p>\n Q. Could you talk a little bit about the education and the <\/p>\n A. The job training started first with a grant from the <\/p>\n Q. What part of your job makes you the most hopeful about <\/p>\n A. The best part of the job these days is the young people <\/p>\n Q. What do you think a green job is and why do you think your <\/p>\n A. I wish somebody would come up <\/p>\n And why do I consider this job [a green one]? Because we Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Chicago considers getting serious about coal pollution<\/a><\/p>\n Focus the nation on jobs and the clean energy race<\/a><\/p>\n Sustainable urban farming ideas that think inside the box<\/a><\/p>\n
\nlearn beekeeping, or we can take care of the hive for you. The only rule we have really is that you can’t use any chemicals in your hives.<\/strong> We have a pretty strict rule about that. We also have a community farm there.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n
\ndelicious, healthy food—that was our first goal. <\/strong>The other goal that we set
\nout for ourselves was to have a business that could support itself. And the other thing we
\nwanted to do was job training in an area of Chicago where people really need
\njobs. <\/p>\n
\nI had an early need to find out how to grow things, so I asked these matriarchs.
\nThey were in their 70s or 80s at the time. They taught me how to grow food, and
\nby the time I was 10, I was growing tomatoes and dragging them around in wagons
\nto the neighbors and selling them at 10 cents a pound.<\/p>\n
\nhive because I’d read about it in an encyclopedia, and they bought me a beehive
\nas a present for my birthday.<\/p>\n
\ngreat luck in your life.” And so I had to admit that I do have a lot of luck,
\nbut I’d like to blame it on those people who taught me when I was a child that
\nit was all right to grow plants and food when you’re seven years old.<\/p>\n
\nof your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nlarger scale for the rest of my life. One of the dreams I have is to produce
\nmore garlic. I see there are niches that can be filled, and that’s the trick to
\nentrepreneurship. Find that niche, and
\nnot only can you make a little money—I don’t know if it will support you
\nforever—but it will help support you and it will make you happy.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nbeekeeping? What pushed you in that direction?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nwas 21. If you find a bee yard with this disease called American foulbrood, you
\nhave kill the bees. After about eight months I ran into a nearly abandoned
\napiary, and I had to do that. I had to use a spray aerosol can of
\ncyanide. I smelled that, and I quit the next day.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nCo-op], there was no question among the three of us beekeepers about chemicals.
\nAt the time it was very radical, even eight years ago, to not use chemicals in
\nyour hives. But we knew it was harming the bees and the environment. Also, we believe in being part of a
\ncommunity. We don’t just do it because we want to get to market, and we don’t
\njust do it because we know we can produce delicious food. We want to pass it on
\nto others.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\njob training that the Chicago Honey Co-op offers?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nIllinois Department of Corrections—not usually a grant-giving organization.
\nAnd they somehow were convinced by the three of us beekeepers that this was a
\ngood idea: a small business doing job training with people who had just gotten
\nout of prison and couldn’t find jobs because of that.<\/p>\n
\ncreating a more sustainable world?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nwho have become interested in what we do, to have them show up and explain to
\nme what the world’s about. That kind of cultural exchange that happens among
\ndifferent generations—there is nothing like it. It is so rich, so important.
\nThat’s how I started out and now I’m in that place to be the mentor.<\/p>\n
\njob is one of them?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nwith a different term. I like names of things that say what they are and this
\none is definitely a stretch and always has been for me. I guess a green job contributes to the health
\nof the earth and to the people and the animals on that earth. We decided to
\nactually produce something tangible and delicious, but something you could hold
\nin your hand that wasn’t just an idea or a service.<\/p>\n
\nbuild soil every day. We’ve also been helping with what people are eating in
\nthe neighborhood and what we’re eating at home. And we’re teaching.<\/p>\n