September is National Honey Month, and our busy hive is a buzz with excitement! This is the time of year when we really get to celebrate all things honey, from the more than 300 unique varietals (and that's just in the U.S. alone!) to its versatility in the culinary world. From keeping your baked goods moist (and extending their shelf life) to balancing flavor in cocktails, honey is the one ingredient that spans the entire menu! You can learn more about honey's natural benefits here.
While we may be celebrating the delicious golden treat that is honey, we know that without hard-working honey bees, there would be nothing to celebrate! Did you know that the 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey? And not only do honey bees provide us with sweet honey, but they are also a vital part of our agricultural industry (did you know that one in three bites of food you eat is in thanks to insect pollinators?).
In today's world, the honey industry faces many challenges such as hive loss, drought, colony collapse and shrinking forage areas.
If you have ever wanted to get involved in the effort to help save the bees, now is the time. Unsure what you can do to help? We've got a few simple ways you can help contribute to the welfare and survival of the honey bees.
- Plant bee-friendly flowers and flowering herbs in your garden and yard.
- Reduce or limit the use of chemicals and pesticides to treat your lawn or garden while plants are in bloom and bees are out foraging.
- Bees are thirsty. Put a shallow basin of fresh water with marbles or rocks in it for the bees to land on outside your home.
- Learn how to be a beekeeper with sustainable practices.
- Share solutions with others in your community.
- Donate to Honey Bee Health Coalition, an organization dedicated to helping protect and promote honey bees and other pollinators (www.honeybeehealthcoalition.org).
And despite what you may have heard or thought, the easiest way to contribute to the cause is to continue buying honey. Whether it's from the beekeeper down the street, your local farmers market or favorite grocery store, your purchase of pure, all-natural, one-ingredient honey helps the honey industry and in return funds life-saving research for solutions.
We're taking our celebration social with a giveaway series! Every day in the month of September we will be drawing winners for a sweet honey-inspired prize pack. Entering is easy, simply take to your favorite social media platform (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) and tell us why/how you are celebrating our favorite ingredient during National Honey Month using the hashtag #SweetOnNHM (mentioning @NationalHoneyBoard is recommended, but not required).
For more tips and inspiration, be sure to get social with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for buzz-worthy news and our favorite honey-inspired recipes.
Happy National Honey Month!