New Mexico is a state located in the Southwest region of the United States. It’s bordered by Mexico to the southwest and by the states of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arizona. The state’s climate varies greatly; it’s 121,591 square miles in area, and some parts of the state, particularly in the north, where the Rocky Mountains extend, have higher elevations and cooler, alpine climates. Conversely, in the southern part of the state, where Hour of the Bees is set, the climate is hot and arid.

Humans are estimated to have lived in the region for over 10,000 years. The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, had a complex network of dwellings across the Colorado Plateau (which includes parts of Northern New Mexico). In the region that is now southern New Mexico, the Mogollon peoples lived. Many of the dwellings of both the Ancestral Puebloans and the Mogollon were built into cliffs and mountains and still survive today, such as the Cliff Palace in Montezuma Country, Colorado.

The area became contested in the late 15th Century, when nomadic tribes of the Navajo and Apache groups arrived and settled in the area. In the 18th Century, Comanche people also settled in parts of New Mexico.