On an overcast morning in Brooklyn Centre, the faint smell of smoke and the music of Macy Gray drifted through Ebonie Randle’s backyard as she suited up to check on her bees.

The hive “looks way better than what it did two weeks ago,” she said, pleased. “ We definitely won’t get no honey harvested this year, but [the bees] look much healthier.”

Randle is a founding member of My Sistas Keeper, a collective of Black, female, urban beekeepers in Greater Cleveland. Since 2023, she’s been learning and teaching others how to take care of bees. And while the journey has been fulfilling, it hasn’t been easy. 

Over the past year, My Sistas Keeper has been working with a trio of classical musicians called Renovare to write personal songs about beekeeping and the strength of sisterhood. That project, “A Hive’s Song,” will present its two final concerts on Thursday, July 24, and Saturday, July 26.

Songs that sound ‘authentically like them’

The musicians of Renovare — violinist Lalia Mangione, violist Clara Prinston and cellist Rebecca Shasberger — are no strangers to these kinds of projects. All three are trained in Documentary Songwriting, a collaborative method where musicians write and compose a song with people who have a story to tell.

The trio spend much of their time teaching string instruments in two local prisons, a process that requires months or years of commitment. So Shasberger saw Documentary Songwriting as a way to create meaningful musical connections with community members over a shorter time frame.

Last year, their project highlighted stories of Black infant and maternal health. And before that, they created songs with community leaders in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton, Stockyards, and Brooklyn Centre neighborhoods. That’s when they first met Randle, who eventually asked if Renovare would work with My Sistas Keeper.

“We were honored they had reached out to us,” said Shasberger, who is also Renovare’s director. “That’s our preferred way of identifying songwriting projects, instead of us inserting ourselves into a place or a topic.”

After briefing the beekeepers on what the process would entail, the group members sat down individually with the five core members of My Sistas Keeper — Randle, Danielle White, Lexxus Davis, Charlierose Neely, and Destiny Worley — for two structured sessions. In the first, they have a conversation about the story that person wants to share. The verbatim transcript is then condensed into a set of lyrics.

In the next session, they talk about melody, rhythm, and how they want the song to sound. “ The storyteller really gets to speak into every level of their song, so we can make it sound as authentically like them as we can,” Mangione said.

Learning that ‘Bee Stings Can Heal’

The resulting songs include “I Feel So Connected” by Lexxus Davis, “Key of Love” by Danielle White, “Kinda Cute” by Charlierose Neely, and “Safety of Sisters” by Destiny Worley. “All of their stories had overlap or some special moment with one another,” Mangione said. “It was really special to see that camaraderie.”

Randle’s song, “Bee Stings Can Heal,” tells the story of a traumatic experience from early in her beekeeping journey, where she was stung more than 20 times. The severity of that episode caused her to develop an allergy, so she no longer checks on her hive alone.

In the aftermath, her newfound sisters helped rebuild her confidence, and her fear has slowly lessened. “Learning how to receive help and support doesn’t come easy for me,” Randle said. “But it’s about learning how to humble yourself.”

For Friday’s hive check, she was joined by BreJona Whitlock, who currently attends the Bee Skool program at the neighboring Shalom & Tranquility Garden. Randle, who founded the garden five years ago, has been giving Whitlock one-on-one mentorship.

“ I’ve always wanted to be a beekeeper, and this is the only group that I knew about that was led by women,” Whitlock said. “I love that this community is intergenerational, so you’re never embarrassed to be a beginner.”

Holding onto hope in the face of challenges

Earlier this year, My Sistas Keeper dealt with a heartbreaking setback — none of their beehives survived Cleveland’s harsh winter. That experience is part of a national trend. Commercial beekeepers lost about 60% of their bees this year, making 2025 their worst winter on record.

Devastated, the women met again with Renovare to write a group song, “A Hive’s Song,” to help process those feelings. “It was a very hard and heartfelt loss,” Randle said. “We have such a close connection with the bees.” 

This year, with a new crop of bees from Georgia, she is focused on winterizing the hive so that it can endure snow and cold. But bees are expensive. And so is running the Shalom & Tranquility Garden, which feeds and educates neighborhood kids and adults alike.

“ The real ask of this project was to tell our stories to broaden our audience beyond our typical audience,” Randle said. But now that they have that attention, she wants people to get involved, donate and volunteer.

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The musicians themselves recognize the limitations on what they can do. “Music can’t grow food,” Shasberger said. “We try to stay in our lane as musicians and use our gifts to elevate the really good work that people are doing.”

Randle hopes the “Hive’s Song” concerts will be a catalyst for the community to support those who are making a difference in Cleveland.

“ When the hive can’t support itself from within, it has to be supported from the outside, right?” she said. “So I would ask people to search their hearts to see if they want to support not just My Sistas Keeper, not just Shalom & Tranquility, but other people doing similar work who are really, actually, doing it.”

Correction: An earlier version is this story had an incorrect spelling for Lalia Mangione’s first name. It has been updated.

“A Hive’s Song” will be presented on Thursday, July 24, at 7 p.m. at the Shalom & Tranquility Garden (3789 W. 39th St., Cleveland). RSVP for the free concert here. A special live recording session will be held on Saturday, July 26, at 7 p.m. at Heights Theater (2781 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights). Pay-what-you-wish tickets are available online. Keep in touch with My Sistas Keeper on Instagram and learn more about how to get involved with the Shalom & Tranquility Garden here.