North House Folk School

Mark moved to Cook County in the spring of 2001 to be the pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. In 2008, after learning more about the losses of pollinators world-wide and receiving encouragement from a beekeeping friend who knew of Mark’s lifelong interest in entomology, Mark created an apiary in his backyard and has been surrounded by bees since. Acquiring local bees from a Cook County beekeeper, Mark’s apiary has grown to six hives. He has chosen to practice a style of beekeeping that could be called ’natural.’ He uses no pesticides or medications and looks to rearing bees that are adapted to our northern clime.