Here is what you need to know about the African Honey Bee and how it can affect you in Tucson.

The Sonoran Desert bee season typically runs mid-March through late October, however, because the Tucson area has had a warm and wet winter we’ve seen an increase in bee activity. In addition, there has been continued rapid growth of Africanized bee colonies in the southern United States. In fact, all wild honey bees in Arizona are presumed to be Africanized.

Bees make their hives in holes in homes, tree hollows, and branches and they even take over other bee’s hives, including the colonies of bees that already live there. Although the entry site to a bee hive can be small, the hives are usually not. Arizona bee hives on average, have 40,000- 60,000 bees. If you mess with an Africanized bee hive, you will be stung.