“Jobs of the Future” is a series focusing on career paths, local job opportunities, programs, and tales of success that highlight North Bay's diverse job market.
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For Megan Rae, owner and operator of "She Keeps Bees" in South River, beekeeping was not a lifelong dream but a passion that took flight unexpectedly. Today, her thriving apiary reflects her dedication to sustainable practices and her love for these tiny yet mighty pollinators.
Rae’s journey began far from the buzzing hives of her current profession. “I grew up on a dairy farm, so animal husbandry — raising and taking care of animals — is something very near and dear to my heart,” she explained.
Her introduction to beekeeping took place in 2019. “My boyfriend (now fiancé) sent me a Facebook post about a hands-on intro to beekeeping course. A couple of months later, I was in a bee suit, standing in the middle of a 25-hive bee yard,” Rae recalled. “As soon as I picked up that first frame of live bees, I was hooked.”
Determined to approach the venture responsibly, Rae spent a year researching, connecting with her local beekeeping association, and shadowing an experienced mentor before purchasing her first hive in June 2020.
“I started keeping bees in 2020 just as a hobby, but once I started sharing my beekeeping journey on social media, the interest and response from family and friends kind of went nuts,” Rae said.
Her first honey harvest sold out in just 24 hours, prompting her to consider the potential for a full-fledged apiary. In 2022, Rae and her family moved from the Ottawa Valley to South River, drawn by its central location and access to outdoor activities they love. “My fiancé had just landed his dream job in South River, and I liked that it’s just off the highway and within an hour of both North Bay and Muskoka,” she said.
Family and friends were also the inspiration behind the name “She Keeps Bees.”
“When I first started sharing my beekeeping journey on social media, word began spreading through my social groups. Eventually, when I was introduced to someone new, my friends or family would say, ‘This is Megan, and she keeps bees,’” Rae said with a laugh. “The phrase just stuck.”
Born and raised on a dairy farm in Harriston, a small town in southern Ontario, Rae has always felt a strong connection to nature. She furthered this connection by earning an Environmental Technician Diploma from Algonquin College's Waterfront Campus in Pembroke in 2017.
Rae currently manages 16 hives, which collectively house over one million bees. While this may seem modest compared to large-scale commercial beekeeping, Rae sees it as an advantage.
“Smaller hive numbers grant me more flexibility and creativity when it comes to expanding what products and services we offer,” she explained.
One of her specialties is terroir-focused honey. “I harvest and bottle honey according to the time of year and geographical location,” Rae said. This approach allows customers to experience the unique flavours, textures, and colours of honey influenced by the flowers the bees forage on.
“It’s a lot like wine-making,” Rae added. “Different nectars, like different grapes, bring specific qualities to the final product.”
Rae says she’s committed to sharing her knowledge and experience with others.
“I currently offer honey-tasting experiences and presentations,” Rae said. “I also provide in-person mentorship and pest management services to local beekeepers. It’s rewarding to see people get excited about beekeeping and learn how to care for their own hives.”
These programs not only educate aspiring beekeepers but also foster a greater appreciation for the intricate world of pollinators.
Beyond traditional honey, Rae offers whipped and flavoured honey, honeycomb, and a range of beeswax products such as candles, food wraps, body butter, lotion bars, and lip balms. She also makes use of propolis, a lesser-known but potent product of bees, to create tinctures and throat sprays.
In addition to her products, Rae provides services that support both new and seasoned beekeepers. “In the spring, I sell nucleus bee colonies — or nucs — and full-size colonies. I also offer in-person presentations, mentoring, and pest management services,” she said.
Rae’s schedule during peak beekeeping season is as dynamic as her buzzing hives. “A typical day can vary a lot,” she noted. “Hives are inspected every seven to 14 days to ensure they’re healthy and happy, but there’s so much more to do.”
Her tasks include building and ordering equipment, monitoring for pests and diseases, splitting hives showing signs of swarming, creating nucs, and moving hives to new yards — often in the middle of the night. Harvesting and extracting honey are also important activities, along with preparing the bees for winter by ensuring they have enough honey, insulation, and bees to survive northern Ontario’s cold months.
Running the business side of She Keeps Bees adds another layer to the overall process. “There’s answering emails, keeping the website updated, restocking products, maintaining records, and attending local events and markets,” Rae explained.
When winter arrives, the pace slows, but the work doesn’t stop entirely. Rae tucks her hives into insulated “Winter Boxes,” a practice she learned from her mentor.
“Contrary to popular belief, honeybees don’t hibernate in the winter,” she said. “They cluster in a ball around the queen and brood, consuming their stores of honey and pollen. To keep warm, the worker bees vibrate their wing muscles, which keeps the hive temperature around 32 to 35°C all winter long.”
She adds the challenge in the winter has been with fluctuating temperatures. Rae says, “Extreme temperature fluctuations force the bees to expend more energy to maintain a stable hive temperature. It’s taxing, both physically for the individual bees and on their winter food stores,” Rae said.
She says it’s not the only effect climate change has had on the bees.
“I noticed a huge impact on my hives during the 2023 summer wildfires,” Rae said. “On days when the smoke was very dense, the bees wouldn’t leave the hive. Forager bees use the sun to navigate, so no sun due to wildfire smoke meant no bees flying.”
The smoke also affected local flora. “It impacted certain flowers and their ability to bloom, which reduced the amount of nectar available to the bees,” Rae explained. “I had one of the worst honey harvests that summer, and I believe the wildfires were a big factor.”
Operating an apiary in Northern Ontario comes with unique hurdles. One of the most significant challenges Rae faces is the variability in nectar sources.
“Not every site you choose for a bee yard will produce the same amount of honey,” Rae explained. “Ensuring that a potential site has the confirmed four major nectar flows up here—dandelion, clover, basswood trees, and goldenrod — can go a long way in reducing the issue of dearth. That’s the period when there’s little to no nectar flow, and as someone who relies heavily on honey sales, I need sites with fairly continuous nectar flow throughout the season.”
Predators are another concern. “Unlike when I lived in the Ottawa Valley, bear fencing around your hives is not optional here,” she noted. “Ensuring your fencing is installed and operating properly is paramount if you want to keep bees successfully in the North.”
When it comes to common misconceptions, Rae has encountered one repeatedly.
“People are always surprised when I tell them that honey bees aren’t native to North America and aren’t at risk of extinction,” she said. “Honeybees are a domesticated livestock animal brought over from Europe during colonization. They’re bred and managed by humans and play a critical role in food production, but they’d probably be the last pollinator to go extinct in the grand scheme of things.”
Looking ahead, Rae sees exciting opportunities for growth and innovation in the beekeeping industry, especially in rural areas like South River.
“Beekeeping in rural areas is set to evolve through technological advances, sustainability, and community engagement,” Rae said. “Continued advances in technology, even AI tools, could help beekeepers better monitor hive health and optimize management. At the same time, creating pollinator-friendly habitats and adopting more organic practices will support sustainability and biodiversity.”
Community initiatives are also a key part of the future Rae envisions.
“Beekeeping courses and youth programs can ensure the tradition continues,” she said. “With climate change posing ongoing challenges, we’ll need more resilient bee breeding and adaptable hive management strategies,” she says. “I’m thrilled to see my generation and younger people, especially women, starting to take up beekeeping. Historically, it’s been a male-dominated profession, so it’s nice to see women and other minority groups stepping up and being recognized in the industry.”
This shift is vital to the industry’s sustainability.
“As the previous generations age, it’s important for younger generations to work alongside them to ensure that knowledge and experience aren’t lost,” Rae said. “This creates more diversity, sustainability, and longevity in the Ontario beekeeping industry as a whole.”
Rae has ambitious plans for the future of her apiary. “I am currently working on offering my own Intro to Beekeeping course, as well as an Adopt-A-Hive or Hive Share program,” she shares.
But her dreams don’t stop there. “Another dream of mine is to save up enough to purchase land in the future so I can have a centralized beekeeping location. Having an agricultural property of our own would allow me to customize and expand into potential eco-tourism ventures I can’t feasibly execute right now with how we operate. My hives are currently on several properties throughout the Parry Sound and Nipissing Districts on land leases. All the extracting and product creation happens at my residential home in the Village of South River.”
With her passion for pollinators and her vision for growth, Rae is shaping a future that’s not just about honey, but about community, education, and sustainability.
If you have a story idea for “Jobs of the Future” send Matt an email at [email protected]