The old town hall of the bell city, which was built at the beginning of the 20th century Gescher is located on the edge of the city center and was used as such until 1989.
It was then given the name of the long-time, former mayor and became the Heinrich-Hörnemann-Haus. Since then, the museum office has been located there and, a few years later, the headquarters of the German Bell Museum with its extensive archive.

 The history of the Bee Museum

From 1995 the “Beekeeping Association Gescher-city wage-Velen and surroundings eV” on the ground floor of the Hörnemann House the “Westphalian-Dutch Beekeeping Museum”. The basis was exhibits from the local local history association, supplemented by a variety of private exhibits from the ranks of beekeepers. At the beginning of 2012, the museum acquired an extensive collection of amber inclusions from all over the world. In addition to spiders and wasps, there are many very rare and million-year-old amber inclusions from bees that make this collection particularly valuable.

Over the years, the museum grew into a diverse and extensive collection, so that a partial outsourcing of exhibits to a storage facility since 2018 made it possible to restructure it into a contemporary museum. In terms of content, the museum focuses not only on honey bees but also on wild bees and their living conditions.
Since 2022 it has therefore been called the “Bee Museum.”

The location

Due to its location at the museum courtyard “auf dem Braem”, next to the Westphalian Bell Museum and the local history museum at the northern entrance gate to the Naturpark Hohe Mark located, offers that Naturparkhaus Bienenmuseum is an ideal excursion destination to a museum of its kind that is unique in North Rhine-Westphalia. For cyclists, it is located directly at junction number 81 of the cycle path network.

The museum's focal points

The bee museum provides visitors with exciting and curiosities about the history of beekeeping from early times to the way it works today. But also a lot of interesting information about honey bees, wasps and the multitude of wild bees and their way of life. Other key topics include the pollination performance and products of bees, their economic importance, and their place in art and cultural history. Another topic is the danger to bees from environmental changes and poisons.
Seeing and orienting, smelling, tasting, feeling: it is exciting and impressive how bees organize and manage their everyday lives with their senses.