The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center will be the home of some new friends: Bees.

Two hives will be installed at some location, yet to be determined, following approval of the plan by the Park and Recreation Board Wednesday.

The addition to the center “will offer a broad range of opportunities for education,” said center director and naturalist, Luke Reese.

The interpretive center in the past had an enclosed observation hive of honey bees, but it was removed after there were difficulties in keeping the hive operating.

Beekeepers Paul Hanson and Tim Scheppi of Albert Lea, Minn., contacted the center to see if it would be interested in having hives on the site.

The pair operate a “hive to bottle” business. They proposed to provide and maintain the hives, if the center paid a flat fee for having them.

It was decided to have two hives at $400 each. The Friends of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center agreed to provide the funding.

In return, the center would be able to keep the honey, which will be harvested, processed and bottled by the beekeepers. The honey can then be sold by the nature center and profits, said Reese, would probably come close to paying the fees for the lease of the hives.

A first case of bottles and labels is included in the $400 fee and 24, one-pound containers of honey are guaranteed. One hive should produce between one and four cases of honey per year. The center will also be able to keep all beeswax produced, which will used in candle-making. Subsequent cases would cost the center $18 for the bottles and $13 for 20 labels.

The center would also pick up the approximate $500 tab for a fence for the 6 foot-by-10-foot area surrounding the hives that will keep people away from the bees. Signs will also be installed to keep people back 10 feet.

The benefits are more than monetary, said Reese. Hanson has offered to volunteer his time to conduct a program about bee keeping. The hives also provide opportunities for education programming about pollination, hive operation, workers, behavior and teamwork that can be observed, he said.

Reese said he has no real concern about safety, if procedures are followed.

“Bees, for the most part won’t bother you if you don’t bother them,” he said.