Olivia Wilson says getting stung comes with the territory for a beekeeper — but it’s still not a buzzkill for the central Ontario teenager as she prepares to showcase her apiary skills on the international stage.
“I’ve been stung five times — including three times in the past week when they stung my face,” said the 14-year-old from Hiawatha First Nation, 20 kilometres south of Peterborough.
That’s still less than once a year over her six years’ worth of apiary experience, which will be in the spotlight in early July during the International Meeting of Young Beekeepers (IMYB) in Ivančna Goricin, Slovenia, hosted by the International Centre for Young Beekeepers.
The annual conference for beekeepers ages 12 to 18 allows them to share their skills and knowledge and compete in several practical and academic disciplines.
Olivia will be joined by two teen beekeepers from British Columbia to represent Canada against 40 other countries.
“I’m a little nervous because we do a bunch of things different here than in other places,” said Olivia, who attends Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School in Peterborough. “So I don’t know how different it will be or if everything I learned will be the same or just vice-versa.”
At the encouragement of her mother Kathryn, who thought beekeeping was “something different and interesting,” Olivia first joined the Kawartha Junior Beekeepers. Launched in 2017, the year-long area program introduces youth to beekeeping, providing practical and hands-on experience.
“It wasn’t a huge time commitment given our busy lives,” said Kathryn. “And when she started, she really enjoyed it. And not only was she enjoying it but we were also enjoying it because she would come home and teach us things.”
The program was co-founded by beekeeper John MacFarlane, who says Olivia has grown in her knowledge and ability to work with bees.
“It has been great to see her keep coming back to the program,” he said.
Added Olivia: “I just thought it was something to do because I really wasn’t a social kid. Now I’m definitely more social and I just stuck with it for so long.”
Working in partnership with Hunnabees and Honey Co., farm in Millbrook, just outside Peterborough, MacFarlane is helping Olivia prepare for the international competition, which they had aimed to attend two years ago but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I do workshops, I tell people, you’re not a beekeeper — you’re an assistant to the bees,” he said.
“Our job is to help the bees to do what they’re going to naturally anyways in the wild. We work with them, identify and try to make things easier for them so they can do what we want them to do as well.”
And it’s not only Olivia buzzing with excitement. On the weekend, Hiawatha First Nation gifted the teen with an official ribbon skirt to wear during the IMYB opening ceremony, where she will speak in her Anishinaabemowin language to introduce her team.
“It’s a very proud moment — not only for our family but our whole community is excited,” said Kathryn. “We can’t wait to see how it all plays out.”
Both mother and daughter hope the competition will inspire others in their community to embrace beekeeping.
“Our hope is that we can eventually have community beehives and that will then create vegetables and fruits that we can share not only amongst all the community members, but our elders and our next seven generations to come,” said Kathryn.
“Being able to have our own hives and help Mother Earth to do the things she needs to do in order for us to survive, just makes good sense.”
The Kawartha Junior Beekeepers is aiming to raise $15,000 to help send the team and two mentors to Slovenia. Along with a GoFundMe Page, beeswax candles and honey gift sets are also being sold at Hunnabees to support the trip.
But even though Olivia can determine if a beehive is healthy enough to produce honey, don’t ask her to eat the bees’ finished product — or if she truly loves those flying insects.
“I don’t eat honey, so that’s something off,” she quipped. “And then I don’t like it when they sting me.”
— with files from Germain Ma/Global News Peterborough
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