Monthly Meetings

General Meeting at St. Mark’s Presbyterian, Knox Room and via Zoom.

“Pollinators, Pesticides, and Africanized Bees”

Speaker: Monica King – Southern Arizona Beekeepers Association

Monica King is a third generation beekeeper, continuing in the family field that was started in 1936. In her adolescence her parents raised queen bees and were commercial migratory honey producers. In her teens the family focused full time on queen rearing.  Monica’s parents over the years became world-renowned. Today, Monica specializes in working with Africanized bees. She removes them live, from unwanted locations, takes them to her apiary where they undergo honeybee “rehab”. She changes the hives genetics to the more docile European strains. Monica also teaches new beekeepers and encourages pollinator protection by doing talks and presentations on these topics.

“Pollinators, Pesticides, and Africanized Bees” is a presentation that takes attendees on a journey from worldwide pollinators and their importance to the Sonoran Desert and the status of our backyard honey bees. With over 1 million colonies lost nationwide in the past couple years, it is more important than ever to discuss what we can do to help save the pollinators. The honey bee is the poster child and beekeepers looking into our hives are sounding the alarm. Let’s put food on our tables in a more sustainable and environmentally conscience way. It starts with you soiling your hands.

In conjunction with this presentation, we have a members-only tour of Native Seeds Search on October 15.