She Keeps Bees

08/29/2026

All hands on deck today to get hives prepped for the final honey harvest. Today was rough in the beeyards. The bees were not happy to see us thanks to a random storm cell passing over when we arrived. We persevered though through bee stings and big emotions

If you were to ask me two weeks ago how this year’s honey harvest was going to be I would have said pretty grim. But holy the golden rod flow and those late harvest Buckfast genetics came through🍯 Over the last two weeks the bees have filled and capped all the extra honey supers I threw on the hives as a “just in case”. It won’t top last year’s bumper crop of honey but it will hopefully be enough to keep honey in stock till next year🗓️

Bees are also looking well, queens are starting to lay their winter bees🐝 Some have started their fall mite treatments. This time of year is the hardest on beekeepers, the boxes are heavy, the bees can be as temperamental as the weather and we’ve been going at this pace since May. We are in the home stretch of the season but its always the longest sloth 🦥

08/03/2026

I know this might invite the keyboard warriors to the chat BUT Varroa mite testing results for two hives that live side by side in the same beeyard. The difference? One received a mid summer mite treatment, the other did not. The higher mite count test is from a Nuc created in the spring that’s now a full sized hive. This is why monitoring your mite counts are so crucial. Never assume it’s okay to treat for varroa mites only once in a beekeeping season. Or make the mistake a lot of young beekeepers do, assume that since it’s a “new” hive that mite counts should be low or avoid treating for mites all together out of fear. BOTH hives will receive another mite treatment this week and another in a month’s time. This time of year queens are starting to lay their winter bees. Varroa mites carry diseases that are then passed onto their bee hosts. Those winter bees need to be as healthy as possible to make it through our long winters here in Central Ontario.

07/06/2026

Come join me on July 18th 10-11:30am at the South River Arena to get a glimpse into all things bees and beekeeping

Buzz, buzz... something exciting is coming!

SRMAS is thrilled to bring you our 2nd workshop of the season!

Have you ever wondered what it's like to keep bees? Now's your chance to find out! Join Megan Rae of She Keeps Bees for an Introduction to beekeeping and discover the fascinating world of honey bees, hives, and everything in between.

• Saturday, July 18
• 10:00–11:30 a.m.
• South River Community Centre

Spaces are limited, so don't wait!

Register today: [email protected]

Come learn something new, ask questions, and get inspired to explore the amazing world of beekeeping!

07/04/2026

Knee High by the first of July🌽 Beekeeper edition🐝✨ So more like head high 😂 Basswood flow is on and swarm cells are plentiful. Better have those supers on folks!

06/26/2026

Got to cross off another experience on my beekeepers card today. Two queens in one hive 👑👑🐝 The phenomenon is usually only seen with a mother daughter situation. Mother Red is 4 years old 🤯 and the longest surviving queen I’ve tended to so far (queens can live up to 6 years). This situation is called a supersedure where the mother queen is aging, her pheromone is weakening and her laying is starting to slow down. The worker bees pick up on this and select one or two eggs to be raised into a new queen. Depending on the timing (and shear dumb luck) there can be a transitional phase where the new queen is just starting to lay or freshly hatched like this one while the old queen is still present. As time goes on the old queen’s pheromone will continue to decrease while her daughter’s becomes stronger. Once this happens the worker bees will then ball the old dowager queen in a final deadly embrace. Ending her life and letting her stronger, younger daughter take over the role of sole queen of the hive. Though brutal, evolutionary wise, this ensures the life of hive continues. Thanks Emma for catching it on video 🎥