Beekeeping is a delicate mix of attention and allowing the bees to be bees. It requires a certain fearlessness, dedication, and nimbleness as you slowly move boxes to check on the queen and her hive and extract honey from combs. It is not a hobby most people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) would take up, but then again, most people aren’t Phyllis. Phyllis, a 74-year-old farmer’s daughter and great grandmother of four whose passions include crochet, painting, beading, gardening, and of course, beekeeping.

RA is an autoimmune disorder that affects your body’s tissues, typically the small joints in hands and feet. Beyond the painful swelling, RA can lead to irreversible damage to cartilage, tendons, and bones, and it can impact other organs, including the skin, eyes, and lungs.

In 2001, Phyllis was working as a record keeper for 16 dairy farmers, testing milk, noting births and medical issues. “It was very interesting,” says Phyllis, who grew up on a 275-acre farm. “It was almost like going home.” She started noticing pain in her hands when she was carrying heavy meters to measure milk samples. Unclear what was happening, her pain progressed until it was unmanageable and she lost all strength in her hands. When her husband had to help carry her meters, she had to stop working. That was when she sought more help. “I knew something was wrong when I had to take time off work,” she says. “I never took time off.”

She first went to her local health clinic; they referred her to a rheumatologist who diagnosed her with RA. Her initial treatment didn’t seem to provide any lasting relief. Her symptoms continued to worsen. She was unable to open car doors or walk up and down stairs. For three painful years, she and her doctor tried various medications to manage her symptoms, but nothing worked for more than a few months before the symptoms and the discomfort would return.

Then Phyllis and her rheumatologist found a therapeutic regimen that worked for her. She was able to go back to work and to her many interests like beekeeping and gardening. “I like working,” she says. “I like the satisfaction of getting something done.” On top of everything else, she is now fostering and bottle-feeding a baby piglet and looking into new bees for the keeping.