With over 50 years of experience in beekeeping and several degrees between them, Bruce and Nancy Steele will talk about everything from what it’s like to be a beekeeper in southern California to the importance of our imperiled native pollinators. You’ll take away a greater appreciation for the importance of the relationships between birds and bees (and all pollinators) plus tips for helping native pollinators to survive and thrive in your own yard. You’ll also get a glimpse into some of the activities that happen inside those stacked bee boxes you see along the roadside.

Cost: $15

Rating: 1

Transportation: Self-drive

Speakers: Bruce Steele 

Bruce Steele began beekeeping just out of college when he caught some swarms and built the boxes to hold them. Always a sideline business, Bruce runs about 200 beehives today, pollinating commercial crops like almonds and harvesting honey from wildflowers in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in California and the Black Hills of Arizona. Bruce retired from his career as an environmental health and safety manager at a small college in 2016.

Nancy Steele

Nancy Steele caught the beekeeping bug after she met Bruce and she foolishly agreed to help him on an overnight trip to move the bees to the almonds some 40 years ago. She studied honeybees and their hive parasite, the greater wax moth, for her masters of science at ASU. Nancy has recently retired from her job as Executive Director of Friends of the Verde River.

Location: Cottonwood Community Clubhouse

805 N Main St, Cottonwood, AZ 86326

Part of the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival