A cracked and overgrown concrete slab on an economically depressed block of West Fillmore Street wouldn’t seem like an appealing place to set up shop.

But to urban beekeeper Michael Thompson, a deserted Sears Roebuck and Co. parking lot held the promise of sweet returns. Over the last six summers, the Chicago Honey Co-op has grown into one of the largest urban beekeeping operations in the country, while fostering community engagement and job training at its bee farm on Chicago’s West Side.

Chicago Honey is small by honey production standards. This season, it expects to have 80 producing hives, while most honey producers rely on about 300 hives to support themselves financially.

 The average hive can yield about 40 pounds of honey beyond what the bees need each season, but some hives could produce much more or nothing at all.

 “We’ve had good years and we’ve had mediocre years,” Thompson said.

 Last season the co-op lost several hives, which reduced the amount of honey it had for the year. The hive failures weren’t because of Colony Collapse Disorder, which caused an abrupt disappearance of bees last year, but the co-op said publicity about the collapses drew local attention to the co-op and the importance of bees in crop pollination.

 Chicago honey promoted its candles and body products to make up for the shortage of honey, but its online market didn’t grow as quickly as it had hoped.

 Some of its purchasers, like Marion Street Cheese Market in Oak Park ran out of honey after the end of last season.

 “As soon as they can get us more stock, I definitely think we’ll see sales,” said Cristeana Bastian, retail and operations manager for the store and café.

 Many of Bastian's customers like the co-op’s honey because it fits with their ideas about socially responsible production and locally-grown products.

 “People ask for them by name,” Bastian said.

 The co-op is able to charge a higher price for its honey than retail grocery stores because the honey is local and chemical free, said Sydney Barton, a member who works with the co-op’s business and marketing.

 “I don’t think we would have been as successful as we are if that movement wasn’t growing strongly,” she said.

The co-op, which has about 35 members, sells its honey at Chicago’s Green City Market and the Oak Park and Logan Square farmers markets, in addition to local stores, restaurants and on the Internet.

 The honey production season kicked off in early April when the co-op received its bees from Texas-based B. Weaver Apiaries. By July, its newest line of local honey will be flowing to Chicago consumers.

 Through its Web site, the co-op charges $9 for 12-oz. jars of its honey, with bath product packages ranging from $10 to around $50.

 The co-op had sales of about $60,000 in 2007 and it estimates that it made about the same last year, thanks to about $30,000 in grants and donations.

 “What we’re supported on is amazingly low,” Barton said. “A lot of small businesses might have better access to capital, but partly because of our setup and mission, we don’t have more traditional lenders or investors interested.”

 A strong start during its first season in summer 2003 helped Chicago Honey gain momentum. The founding co-op members started with 40 hives that year, but affiliations with non-profit groups made it possible for it to save money.

 “Once you have a hive, there’s no stopping it,” Thompson said. “We actually saw $28,000 [by 2004] and that was some kind of miracle for us.”

 Since then, it has managed to stay in the black by hiring only a few employees, varying by season. The majority of its expenses are bees and honey jars, Barton said.

 It also saves with low facilities expenses.  Much of the production is done in warehouse space loaned by a co-op member. The hives sit on the old Sears property, owned by land developer Partnership Independence Fillmore LLC. It allows the co-op to rent the property at an affordable rate until it is ready to develop the land.

 Part owner Mark Ross said he was attracted by the co-op’s focus on job training, especially for recently incarcerated people. They received some workforce development aid from non-profits to teach the clients beekeeping and other types of agriculture.

 “It was a request that didn’t seem to have an adverse effect on the property,” Ross said. “I don’t know that it’s highest and best use, but I think it’s a great use. I liked the idea that they were doing job training and trying to give people a hand.”

 The co-op also operates a community garden next to the apiary, where anyone can grow vegetables, as long as they don’t use any chemicals that could harm the bees.

 Though next year’s honey is yet to come in, the co-op brought some of its reserves to a booth at Garfield Park Conservatory’s Green & Growing urban gardening fair in late April, kicking off its market season.

 “I like honey, and if it makes me a little less miserable this August, it’ll be worth it,” said Andrew McComb, 23, who eats local honey to alleviate his allergy symptoms.

 Though the co-op is optimistic about this summer’s production, its members are looking for ways to grow beyond the traditional market setting.

 Barton has been working to increase its online presence using social networks like Facebook, Twitter and its own blog to maintain relationships with customers through the winter and tell them about events like beekeeping classes. It also sells on its own Web site and through online artisan marketplaces such as Etsy.com and 1000markets.com.

 Chicago Honey’s sales have been increasing every month this year compared with the same month last year, but the co-op wants to be able to grow and to pay its employees a higher wage, Barton said. “I want us to earn more money,” she said.

 The co-op is looking at different approaches to its business model, but the changes come with costs. It wants to add value-added food products, like the honey mustard it is developing, but it needs access to a commercially certified kitchen space. The co-op has interest for visits from school and agritourism groups, but these offerings would require additional employees.

 For now, Thompson is focused on providing quality honey while staying on track financially.

 “This is maybe my old-fashioned approach, but I’m not interested in a big loan or a big investment and I don’t want to be in debt to make this business work,” said Thompson, who has kept bees since he was 12 years old. “I get paid $10 an hour, but I’m not so concerned about that. This is a labor of love.”