ABOUT THE NHB

We're an industry-funded agriculture promotion group that educates consumers about the benefits and uses of honey and honey products. Our research, marketing, and promotional programs are funded by an assessment on domestic and imported honey and are designed to increase awareness and usage of honey by consumers, the foodservice industry, and food manufacturers.

The National Honey Board (NHB), which operates under the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversight, is not a regulatory agency and does not have powers of enforcement. The Board is prohibited from using funds to influence legislation or governmental action or policy.

The NHB is authorized by the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 and was established under the rules and regulations of the Honey Packers and Importers Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order, effective May 2008.

To Achieve Our Goals

  • We fund research projects designed to find new and improved uses for honey in foods and other products.
  • We offer consumers honey information through recipes and photographs of honey-serving ideas that are provided to newspaper and magazine editors across the country.
  • We provide information for special honey and beekeeping stories that appear in newspapers, the internet, and on radio and television stations.
  • We provide honey merchandising materials to honey industry producers-packers, retailers, the foodservice industry, and honey handlers. Posters, recipes, a cookbook, stickers, fact sheets...the list goes on and on. For an order form, call the NHB office or download the order form directly from this site.
  • We fund research projects to find ways to maintain the health of honey bee colonies.
  • We fund programs to educate chefs on the uses of honey.

Our Beginnings

The National Honey Board began in the mid-1980s when a group of honey producers and other industry representatives got together to discuss a powerful new idea: What would happen if they pooled their resources to work to spread the word about honey? By working together, they theorized, the industry could advertise, conduct research, and promote honey in ways that were simply too costly and time consuming without a cooperative effort. The original National Honey Board was authorized by an Act of Congress and established under the rules and regulations of a subsequent Federal Order. The Board began operation in early 1987.

In April 2008, the first handlers and importers of honey and honey products voted to approve a new national honey packers and importers program. The vote was taken in a referendum conducted by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Operations of the previous Honey Board were picked up by this new program and the name National Honey Board was kept. The Board is authorized by the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 and was established under the rules and regulations of the Honey Packers and Importers Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order that was published in the Federal Register on May 21, 2008. The Board's programs are administered under USDA supervision.

The HPIB Order

The Honey Packers and Importers Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order(7 CFR PART 1212) establishes and authorizes the National Honey Board. You may view the full text of the Order on the GPOAccess website, which maintains the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations or by clicking on the link below.

View the Honey Packers and Importers Board Order

The NHB Bylaws

The purpose of the Board and these Bylaws shall be to implement the provisions of the Honey Packers and Importers Research Promotion and Consumer Education and Industry Information Order and to carry out a coordinated program of advertising, promotion, consumer education, development, and marketing research for honey and honey products also to establish a fair and orderly procedure whereby adequate funds can be assembled to fulfill the provisions of this program.

Download The NHB Bylaws

Independent Evaluation

The National Honey Board must authorize and fund an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of its plans and programs at least once every five years. The most recent evaluation, Honey Demand and the Impact of the National Honey Board's Generic Promotion Programs was conducted and completed in 2023 for evaluation of years 2018-2022.

Download the Full 2023 Independent Evaluation

Download the Full 2018 Independent Evaluation

Download the Full 2014 Independent Evaluation