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Desert Institute of Gardening: Buzz About Bees
Class Description:
Master Gardeners Lee Ann Aronson and Mike Hills will discuss current natural and human threats upon the pollinator population and how your home garden can improve their future. They will also discuss concerns about Africanized Honeybees and their behavior so you can better understand what these bees are doing in your family's garden and yard. You will leave with a much better understanding of your role in the health of our critical pollinators. One third of our food relies on native bees and honeybees, so a better understanding is crucial to our future. PLEASE NOTE: This is not a class in raising honeybees.
Participants will:
- Be made aware of the plight of the bees.
- Understand Colony Collapse Disorder.
- Identify Native Bees versus Honeybees and other stinging insects, and their behaviors.
- Learn when not to “bee” afraid of Honeybees.
- Learn why backyard native plants are important to bees.
- Practice safe IPM management that will not harm bees.
Public Ticket price: $20
Certified Master Gardener & Associate Members: $10
MG Interns: $10
Presented by Lee Ann Aronson and Mike Hills
Lee Ann Aronson is a native of Phoenix, AZ. She began her interest in bees at age 14 months; when, as she watched a bee, she got up and walked for the first time as it flew from flower to flower. Lee Ann is a graduate of Arizona State University. She completed her Master Gardener instruction in 2002 and often presents for the Master Gardener program at Home & Garden Shows, gardening clubs and community organizations. She has been an editor for the Arizona Herb Association newsletter for more than a decade.
Mike Hills, a Master Gardener since 1996, grew up in Southern California and Arizona, and has gardened locally since moving to Tucson with his family in 1965. Mike kept honeybees as a teenager in Scottsdale in the 1970s before the arrival of the Africanized honeybees, and is returning to beekeeping with one of his sisters. He has a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy and Plant Sciences from the University of Arizona CALS. Mike worked internationally in the turf and forage planting seed industry since 1980. He serves on the board of the Arizona Crop Improvement Association, chairs the Maricopa County Extension Advisory Board and guides herb tours at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. He was past president of the Arizona Herb Association and continues his interest through the herb demonstration garden at Maricopa County Extension where he manages it with MG Pam Perry.
