[BarnRat]

I'm retired in Pima County AZ and interested in beekeeping but I don't know anything about it really. I've seen a few documentaries and read some -- that's about it though. I'm not even sure beekeeping is possible where I live here in the Sonoran Desert but I see quite a few bees on my hummingbird feeders and on the blooming trees. We had a swarm ten years ago that I am ashamed to say, the bee remover killed them. I thought he was going to remove them to another location be he killed them. It didn't seem right but maybe that's what they always do. I don't know. They weren't attacking any one or any of our pets.

Anyhow, I have many questions. Hope that's OK.

 

[BarnRat]

Thanks for the welcome.

I'm not finding any local clubs and I'm finding that beekeeping in the desert here has its own problems starting with keeping out the Africanized bees. While this doesn't seem too difficult (according to what I've read) it is the highest priority. I still haven't found any local beekeepers that I could go and talk to. But I've just started looking.

 

[BarnRat]

Thanks to all for the welcomes.

@Joseph Clemens, I hadn't really thought about harvesting the honey, just raising the bees. Do you have to harvest the honey? Yes, the bees are on all my mesquite trees now. You can hear them humming from several feet away when there are a lot of them. How can I tell if they are Africanized? I have never been stung in the 18 years I've been here and I get quite close to them when changing the nectar in my hummingbird feeders.

 

[BarnRat]

Thanks for the response.

 

[BarnRat]

After some investigation it looks like, for various reasons, raising bees is kind of tough here in the Sonoran Desert. I think I will just start feeding the bees and forget about raising them for now. I already do feed the bees indirectly with my four humming bird feeders which are out 24/7 for the last 10+ years. I will add a bee feeder with 1:1 or 2:1 mixture ratio (sugar : water ration).

Thanks for the replies and good luck with your beekeeping. Maybe I will be feeding some of the bees of you local beekeepers.