Prior teams After the 1914
Pacific Coast League season, Salt Lake City businessman
Bill "Hardpan" Lane purchased the
Sacramento Solons and brought the team to Utah as the
Salt Lake City Bees. Though a charter member of the PCL, the Solons suffered on the field and at the gate, being exiled at times to
Tacoma,
Fresno, and
San Francisco. On March 31, 1915, their first game was played with more than 10,000 fans pouring into Majestic Park (later renamed Bonneville Park) to cheer the Bees to a 9–3 win over the
Vernon Tigers. The original Bees never won a PCL
pennant, but they drew attendees well, especially given the small market size. However, other PCL team owners resented the high cost of travel to Salt Lake City. When the Vernon Tigers abandoned Los Angeles after the 1925 season, it was suggested to Lane that he would do well to transfer his team to Southern California. After 11 seasons, the Bees moved to Los Angeles for the 1926 season. Initially known as the Hollywood Bees, the team soon became the Hollywood Stars. After ten seasons in Hollywood, the team transferred again to San Diego, where it played as the San Diego Padres from 1936 to 1968. Salt Lake City was without a baseball team until 1946, when it received a franchise in the
Pioneer League. Salt Lake City once was home to an all-black baseball team called the Occidentals. They played during the early 1900s against white teams in Utah and across the Western United States. In 1971, the Salt Lake City Angels started playing. The minor league team was affiliated with the
California Angels.
Salt Lake Buzz (1994–2000) The current franchise dates from 1994, when
Joe Buzas, a former major league player and the owner of the PCL
Portland Beavers, moved the team to Salt Lake City. Buzas made a deal wherein the city would build a new ballpark on the site of historic
Derks Field in exchange for relocating the team. The new ballpark,
Franklin Quest Field, opened in 1994 with the renamed Salt Lake Buzz drawing 713,224 fans to home games during their inaugural season—breaking the PCL single-season attendance record that had stood for 48 years.
Salt Lake Stingers (2001-2005) Known as the Salt Lake Buzz from 1994 to 2000, the team changed its name to the Salt Lake Stingers in 2001. The change was forced by a trademark dilution lawsuit filed by
Georgia Tech, whose
yellowjacket mascot is named
Buzz.
Salt Lake Bees (2006-present) Following the 2005 season, the team announced the Stingers would henceforth be known as the Salt Lake Bees, the name of the original PCL franchise which played in Salt Lake City from 1915 to 1926 and from 1958 to 1965. Bees have long been a symbol of Utah. The original name of the Mormon settlement,
Deseret, is said to be the
word for "honeybee" in the Book of Mormon; a beehive appears on the
Utah state flag; the state motto is "
Industry" (for which bees are known); and Utah is widely known as the "
Beehive State." In 2019, the Bees announced a new logo, name, and branding for the team, taking on the name "Abejas de Salt Lake" for their ongoing participation in The
Copa de la Diversión. In conjunction with
Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Bees were organized into the
Triple-A West. Salt Lake ended the season in fifth place in the Western Division with a 49–70 record. No playoffs were held to determine a league champion; instead, the team with the best regular-season record was declared the winner. However, 10 games that had been postponed from the start of the season were reinserted into the schedule as a postseason tournament called the Triple-A Final Stretch in which all 30 Triple-A clubs competed for the highest winning percentage. In 2022, the Triple-A West became known as the Pacific Coast League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. In the early part of the 2023 season,
Jo Adell broke a franchise record with a six-game straight home run streak. In early 2024, Marc Amicone left the Bees to become an advisor on baseball matters for the Larry H. Miller Company (now
Miller Sports + Entertainment). He will work with the company and
Big League Utah in their efforts to bring a Major League Baseball team to Utah. The team named Ty Wardle, the Bees' former chief revenue officer as the new general manager. Cameron Coughlan was hired as assistant general manager. During the 2024 season, three-time Major League Baseball MVP
Mike Trout played with the Bees as part of his physical rehabilitation. Trout had previously played for the Bees in 2012. The Bees plan to leave Smith's Ballpark for
The Ballpark at America First Square, a new ballpark in
South Jordan, Utah, after the 2024 season. In 2024, the Bees have played under multiple names including the Buzz, Gulls, Occidentals, Trappers and Stingers. They played under the name
Malmö Oat Milkers due to a licensing deal that Minor League Baseball struck with the Swedish firm
Oatly. Oatly operates a plant in Ogden, Utah. The Bees played their final game at Smith's Ballpark on September 22, 2024. The Bees introduced new uniforms and logos in late 2024. ==Management==