Beekeeping in Frontenac County grows in popularity

Sep 12, 2019

Alexandra Pedersen is busy as a bee these days.

Speaking from her house in Kingston, the 32-year-old talks about the beekeeping workshop she taught last Saturday at Wintergreen Studios in South Frontenac.

“I think it went really well,” she confirms. “We had a diverse group of people join us.”

A member of the Limestone Beekeepers’ Guild, Alexandra enjoys promoting these creatures that are essential to the survival of humans and our food security.

“It’s my passion outside of work,” she says about her efforts to increase the honey bee population in Frontenac County.

It was an interest that began during her undergraduate degree at the University of Guelph where she studied beekeeping as a science credit. She describes the social structure of bees (queen, workers and drones) as fascinating.

“The ability of these tiny, tiny creatures to make such a difference in the environment is remarkable,” she explains.

After moving to Kingston, Alexandra quickly established five hives in Inverary which she tends every week or two to assess the health of the queen and her environment.

“I learn something different from each of those five hives,” she says. “Every time I open them, they have a unique or different problem.”

According to Alexandra, there is only one queen in every 50,000 bees and every third bite of your food is the responsibility of a bee. From her five hives, she extracts seven boxes of honey which she gives as gifts or sells.

Catherine Reynolds

A great admirer of the honey bee and its role in the food chain, this beekeeper is working to increase the honey bee population despite the destructive challenges of global warming and certain pesticides.

“It’s definitely on everyone’s minds,” she says thoughtfully.

Because of the urgency to protect honeybees, Alexandra has seen an increase in their popularity.

“I’m overwhelmed by the number of public responses,” she admits. “The beekeepers’ guild headlined the last Science Rendezvous and had more than 5,000 people visit our two-observation hives. Since that event, we have seen a spike in membership.”

Alexandra’s work to teach people beekeeping is voluntary through the guild.

Asked about the future of beekeeping, Alexandra says she is determined to see these creatures thrive.

She’d like to see hives stay at least five kilometres away from farms that use pesticides and hopes Kingston will become more open to having beehives in the city limits.

“I really love bees and everything they’re involved with in terms of the environment,” she explains. “Humans’ existence is dependent on bees. If they perish, you’re going to have a food security problem.”

For more information about beekeeping workshops, please visit https://limestonebeekeepersguild.com/  or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.