The Door County Beekeepers Club invites the community to their annual Community Honey Harvest on Saturday, August 23, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Crossroads at Big Creek. This lively, family-friendly event offers live honey extraction demonstrations, fun activities, and educational programs that explore the fascinating world of honey and beeswax.
The Door County Beekeepers maintain an apiary near Crossroads’ Meadow Trail, where they carefully tend beehives to produce honey and beeswax. During the festival, visitors can watch beekeepers dressed in protective suits demonstrate the delicate process of harvesting honey and beeswax straight from the hives.
Beekeeping is an ancient practice dating back 4,500 years to Europe and the Middle East. Honeybees are not native to America. Early colonists brought them here around 1620 alongside other livestock: cattle, pigs, and chickens to help establish farms. Honey was a vital sweetener before sugar became widely available, and beeswax was essential for making candles and sealing goods.
By the 1830s, settlers introduced honeybee hives to Wisconsin, while wild swarms naturally spread across the Midwest. Early pioneers prized honey not only as a sweet treat but also for its natural antibiotic qualities, using it on wounds and as a cough remedy. Beeswax was especially valued for making clean-burning, fragrant candles, like the cherished Moravian Christmas candles, which are still used as symbols of purity in Door County churches.
Today, beeswax is a key ingredient in many products, including lip balms, skin creams, cosmetics, cheesemaking, fishing gear, and archery equipment. Curiously, both beeswax and honey are used to repair bagpipes!
In addition to the Honey Harvest Festival, Crossroads is hosting other programs this week, including a family wetlands exploration and an adult-only “Nature Trek with Terrie” focusing on Reading the Landscape at Ida Bay Preserve.
All programs are free and open to the public thanks to the generous support of partnering organizations, including the Door County Beekeepers Club, the Door County Seed Library, Wild Ones–Door Peninsula, and many caring and generous donors.
Saturday, August 23
9:00 am-1:00 pm Community Honey Harvest
Join the Door County Beekeepers Club for their annual Honey Harvest! Learn about the process of harvesting honey. The club promotes the study, science, and craft of beekeeping through education, encouragement, and community for all Door County beekeepers. It raises awareness of the benefits of bees for our environment, ecology, and local economy. Free and open to the Public. Crossroads at Big Creek.2041 Michigan, Sturgeon Bay
Tuesday, August 26
1:00 pm Environmental Exploration – Wetland Science
Geared for elementary students, all ages are welcome to attend to learn the value of wetlands in dry times. Registration is not required. Meet in the Collins Learning Center. Crossroads, 2041 Michigan, Sturgeon Bay. Open to the public and free.
Wednesday, August 27
1:30 pm Wandering Wednesday,
Join a naturalist-led hike. Easy walking. About an hour.
Meet at the Collins Learning Center, Crossroads, 2041 Michigan, Sturgeon Bay
Thursday, August 28
1:00 pm Nature Treks with Terrie-Reading the Landscape.
Deep Dive into Environmental Topics with Terrie Cooper. Meet at the Ida Bay Preserve, 1195 Canal Road. Sturgeon. For more information and to register, visit www.crossroadsatbigcreek.org
