These West Valley farmers markets return in October for fall

Editor's note: This article first appeared in Sun Life Magazine, a Daily Independent publication.

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There’s really only one rule when peeking inside some of the 450 hives at Sun Tan Honey Farm. And you’ll hear the rule when you do “it,” even as a reflex.

“Don’t swat.”

Even a novice is perfectly safe when a couple hundred thousand bees are under the care of professional beekeepers Santos Vasquez and Shawn White. They keep their hives in a remote part of Buckeye where the two are stewards of our all-important pollinating bees. All the honey that flows – one box alone can produce 70 pounds of the sweet stuff – is available at farmers markets across the West Valley.

That raw honey is a natural sweetener that comes from bees visiting local flowers. Not processed like some store-bought honeys, it retains nutritional qualities and antioxidants that are especially helpful to fight seasonal allergies.

“It’s the pollen the bees are consuming that makes the difference in your area,” Vasquez said.

To get the full benefits of local honey, be sure to check out if those who sell at farmers markets are indeed beekeepers and not vendors selling honey from bulk barrels processed elsewhere. The guys at Sun Tan Honey Farm film and post their entire process on their social media platforms.

“Because (a vendor) is local doesn’t mean it’s local honey,” White noted.

Vasquez brings more than 25 years experience as a beekeeper after coming upon it through a family member who at the time was managing 1,500 hives as a one-man operation.

“I fell in love the first day out,” he remembered. “I didn’t want to do anything else after that.”

He formed Sun Tan Honey Farm in Buckeye in 2014 and White came aboard.

The two do much more than protect pollinators.

They also perform no-kill, humane hive removals from homes and businesses. Sun Tan alone does a couple hundred live removals in a given year from the likes of Phoenix, Buckeye, Peoria, Litchfield Park, El Mirage, Surprise, Goodyear, and Avondale.

They then bring the hives they remove to a staging yard away from their other hives to monitor this new group. They look for the bees’ temperament and health before moving the new group into a permanent spot near the hive operation.

“We don’t know if we capture (the bees) alive from your house, your attic, your wall, your shed, your vehicle, your roof, your trees, water boxes from throughout the Valley, we don’t what the bees have been exposed to,” White said of rehoming the removed bees to their farm. “We don’t want cross-contamination. It affects not only your bees but your honey production.”

Sun Tan’s removal service for unwelcome hives is preventative. If the bees are actively stinging you and posing a danger to your family, call the fire department, they advise.

And while Sun Tan’s mission to protect vital pollinators while harvesting honey is tempting for residents to take up, take caution.

“If you’re gonna try and get into beekeeping take some classes first. But the only real way to learn is to stick your hand in a hive,” Vasquez, a Buckeye resident, says. “What you learn in books is not gonna be what you learn and can get to know when you’re opening up a hive.”

Santos Vasquez, left, and Shawn White opened Sun Tan Honey Farm in 2014.

(Sun Life Magazine/Steve Stockmar)

Santos Vasquez looks at a hive among their bees.

(Sun Life Magazine/Steve Stockmar)

Raw honey literally drips out of a hive in Buckeye.

(Sun Life Magazine/Steve Stockmar)