2026 Representatives Crowned

The American Beekeeping Federation held their 83rd Annual Convention in Mobile, Alabama. The new American Honey Queen and Princess have been crowned.

2026 American Honey Queen

Delanie Craighead from California

2026 American Honey Princess

Oceanna Escribano from Texas

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

2025 Representatives Crowned

The American Beekeeping Federation held their 82nd Annual Convention in Reno, Nevada. The new American Honey Queen and Princess have been crowned!

2025 American Honey Queen

Cheyenne Bastian-Brown from Pennsylvania

2025 American Honey Princess

Emilia Burnham from California

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

2024 Representatives Crowned

The American Beekeeping Federation held their 81st Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. The new American Honey Queen and Princess have been crowned!

2024 American Honey Queen

Kaelyn Sumner from Wisconsin

2024 American Honey Princess

Lainey Bell from Maine

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

2023 Representatives Crowned in Jacksonville

The new American Honey Queen and Princess were selected at the 80th Anniversary American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Jacksonville, Florida.

2023 American Honey Queen

Selena Rampolla from Florida

2023 American Honey Princess

Allison Hager from Iowa

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

Medicinal Uses of Honey

 Has a loved one ever made you a hot cup of tea with honey when you were sick? That drink was doing much more for you than being a comfort. Honey has many health benefits, and has been used for medicine since the time of Ancient Egyptians. 

Honey is an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant. If you have a sore throat, the anti-inflammatory properties of honey will work to immediately calm it down.

Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, honey is a common ingredient in cough drops.

Honey is also a humectant, which means that is preserves moisture. Many people put honey on burns to help heal the skin faster. 

Look for a darker honey when seeking out honey for its medicinal properties. 

A good rule of thumb when looking to honey for its medicinal uses is the darker the honey, the better it is to use for medicine. Darker honey typically contains less water and more nutrients such as antioxidants. Some varieties of dark honey include: buckwheat, chestnut, and dandelion. Ask your local beekeeper about darker varieties, and consider honey as your health aid next time you are sick!

Beeswax Bonanza

 It is a well known fact that honey bees make honey. Did you know that there are other commodities produced by the very useful honey bee that can be utilized in many different ways? The goods produced by honey bees that people can use are called products of the hive. Let's look at another product of the hive, beeswax, and what people do with it. 

A worker bee produces beeswax from her wax glands, located on the underside of her abdomen, the third segment of the body. The bee will then chew the wax, to make it moldable, and form it in the hexagons seen on a honeycomb.

Did you know that a hive of bees has to eat eight pounds of honey to have enough energy to produce one pound of beeswax?

Worker bee producing beeswax from her wax glands.

People use beeswax in many different ways, from candles to furniture polish. Beeswax is also a common ingredient found in beauty products, such as lip balm or soap. Beeswax is used along with rosin to treat string instruments to be able to play.

Encaustic painting is the art form in which artists use colored beeswax on canvas or board to create beautiful works of art. 

Encaustic art titled "The Iris" by American Beekeeping Federation member George Hansen

Some people use beeswax as a chewing gum, others coat cloth with the wax and make a sustainable plastic wrap alternative.

How do you use beeswax? Below is a link by Good Housekeeping to make your own beeswax wraps.

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/craft-ideas/g25642328/diy-beeswax-reusuable-wraps/

Consider this for an eco-friendly and cost saving substitute for plastic wrap!

Background of the Bee Suit

A fundamental piece in a beekeeper's toolkit is the bee suit. The classic all-white jumpsuit with mesh veil is the first thing someone thinks of when the word beekeeper is mentioned. The bee suit has been optimally fitted for beekeeping. Let's take a look at some of the different elements of the bee suit and the purpose of the design. 

beekeepers working in the hives while wearing their bee suits

Bee suits are light in color, most commonly seen in white. Predators of the hive such as bears, raccoons, and skunks all have dark fur. Because of this, darker colors alarm bees more than very light colors do. 

Bee suits can be made in a thick canvas material. The canvas suit is effective in keeping bees out and preventing stings, but can get extremely hot. Spending hours a day working in hives during the spring and summer months can be a very physically taxing job. Now, the popularity of mesh suits has risen. These new suits have layered mesh, which allow airflow while also protecting the beekeeper from a potential sting.

Another facet of the bee suit are gloves, in order to avoid stinging in the hand. A beekeeper's gloves are typically made out of goat leather. Goat leather is not as inpenetrable as leather from cows, but it is softer and thinner, giving the beekeeper more ability to move. Beekeeping can be incredibly delicate work, so free range of motion is important. Bee suits are specially designed for being in beehives and around honeybees. They are useful for any beekeeper!

2022 Representative Crowned in Las Vegas

The new American Honey Queen was selected at the 2022 American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2022 American Honey Queen

Lucy Winn from Pennsylvania

Congratulations! She will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representative in America!

2021 Representatives Crowned Virtually

The new American Honey Queen and Princess were selected at the 2021 American Beekeeping Federation Convention held virtually this year.

2021 American Honey Queen

Jennifer Hinkel from Wisconsin

2021 American Honey Princess

Virginia Allen from Texas

Congratulations ladies! They will spend the year promoting honey and beekeeping throughout the United States and post interesting articles along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

2020 Representatives Crowned in Illinois

The new American Honey Queen and Princess were selected at the 2020 American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Schaumburg, Illinois.

2020 American Honey Queen

Mary Reisinger from Texas

2020 American Honey Princess

Sydnie Pauslrud from Wisconsin

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

Image courtesy of David Loeb

2019 Representatives Crowned in Myrtle Beach

The new American Honey Queen and Princess were selected at the 2019 American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

2019 American Honey Queen

Hannah Sjostrom from Wisconsin

2019 American Honey Princess

Nicole Medina from New Jersey

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to everyone! December is a busy month full of celebrations. Hannukah and Christmas are among the top most celebrated holidays. As American Honey Queen, I think of how to incorporate honey and other products of the hive into my celebrations!

Beeswax candles are used for Hannukah.

This year, Hannukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, runs from December 2-10, where candles are lit every day in celebration of the re-dedication of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The candles used can be beeswax. Beeswax candles burn longer, give off a slight honey smell, and are environmentally friendly.

Like most holidays, there is always cooking and special foods involved. A traditional food for Hanukkah is fried latkes. Check out this recipe for honey inspired applesauce and latkes.

Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, takes place on December 25. This popular holiday is often filled with gift giving. If you need a last minute gift, consider giving a book on beekeeping or unique flavor of honey to a friend or family member. If you know a beekeeper that you still need to give a gift to, consider a new set of gloves or hive tool.

Another food filled holiday, most families sit down for a meal as part of their Christmas celebration. Your Christmas meal would be great if it included honey! Check out this recipe for Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, I hope you have a sweet time!

Have a happy holiday!

Honey Turkey Thanksgiving

You can't have Thanksgiving without the turkey! But, have you ever thought about using honey on your turkey?

Here are some of my personal favorite Thanksgiving honey recipes:

HERBED TURKEY BREAST

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup - honey

1/4 cup - orange juice

2 T - butter or margarine, melted

1 1/2 tsp. - dried sage

1 tsp. - dried thyme

1 clove - garlic, minced

3/4 tsp. - salt

1/4 tsp. - pepper

1 - boneless, skinless turkey breast, about 2 lbs.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat broiler. Position oven rack 6 inches from heat source.

Combine honey, orange juice, butter, sage, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper.

Place turkey breast on rack set in broiler pan. Brush with some of honey mixture. Broil, brushing frequently with remaining mixture, turning turkey once, until no longer pink inside, about 40 minutes.

Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

CHUNKY APPLE CRANBERRY SAUCE

YIELD: Makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS

2 cups - fresh cranberries

2 - tart apples, peeled, if desired, cut in 1/4-inch slices

1 cup - chopped onion

1/3 cup - olive oil

1/3 cup - honey

4 tsp. - red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. - ground ginger

1/4 tsp. - ground cinnamon

Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan stir all ingredients. Heat to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes; stirring occasionally.

Cool and refrigerate.

HONEY CORNBREAD STUFFING

YIELD: Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

4 cups - day-old Honey Cornbread, crumbled

1 (4 oz.) - Italian sausage

1 cup - chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup - minced onion

1/2 cup - chopped celery

1 T - minced parsley

1 tsp. - dried thyme leaves, crushed

1 tsp. - salt

1/4 tsp. - ground black pepper

1/3 cup - chicken broth

2 T - honey

DIRECTIONS

In large bowl, place crumbled cornbread.

Remove sausage from casing. In medium skillet, crumble and sauté sausage until brown. Using slotted spoon, remove sausage from skillet and add to cornbread. Drain all but 1 T of fat.

Return skillet to medium-high heat; stir in bell pepper, onion and celery. Sauté until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Cool slightly, then add to cornbread.

In small bowl, combine broth and honey. Pour over stuffing.

Place stuffing in a greased 9x9-inch baking dish. Cover dish with foil and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes until stuffing is lightly browned. 

TIP

As an alternative, pack you may pack stuffing into poultry cavity before roasting.

I hope you have a wonderful honey-and-family-filled Thanksgiving! For more honey recipes, click here!

Honey Halloween

Happy Halloween! October is a great month for bonfires, playing in the leaves, and of course getting dressed up for a night of candy collecting. For most beekeepers, October is spent preparing the hives for winter. With the bees becoming less active, we can still be creative and pull inspiration from those fuzzy friends of ours.

This family wears bee, skep,
and beekeeper costumes.

If you don’t want to dress up as the usual witch, Frankenstein monster, or vampire, how about a bee inspired costume! Throw on a black and yellow striped shirt, a set of antenna, and a stinger and you are ready to be a honey bee.

Try putting a costume on your honey bottle for Halloween!

Who says only people can dress up for Halloween? Grab a bottle of honey, some craft supplies and your imagination for a decorating contest. A little bit of construction paper, tissue, paper, glue and markers will go a long way to make your ordinary bottle or jar of honey into a dressed up masterpiece! If you are having a Halloween party, a honey bottle decorating contest would be a great addition.

Honey sticks are a great
treat to give out at
Halloween!

If you love honey like I do, then you would be excited to get a honey stick or a piece of honey candy on Halloween. If you friends or family want to give something different out to "trick or treaters," suggest honey sticks or honey candy. Honey is a great treat for everyone, and I bet many of your classmates would enjoy some honey in their candy containers!

Happy National Honey Month

National Honey Month is a celebratory month in the United States held annually during the month of September. The awareness month was initiated by The National Honey Board in 1989.

Its purpose is to promote beekeepers, the beekeeping industry, and, of course, honey, as a natural and beneficial sweetener.

September is significant for honey producers, as it typically marks the end of the honey collection season for beekeepers in the United States.

Make sure to eat lots of honey, go to a beekeeping event, and talk to a beekeeper this month! 

Products of the Hive

The wonderful world of a beehive has long been known as the location where our honey bees make honey. What many don’t know is that honey bees make and collect other products for the hive. Those products can be extracted and utilized by us in our daily lives.

Honey

Honey is the most common product of the hive.

Honey is the most commonly thought of product that comes from the hive. Honey bees collect nectar from the hundreds of flowers they visit in a day. That nectar gets returned to the hive where it is deposited into a honey comb cell. The nectar is then fanned by a worker bee’s wings to get a lot of the moisture out for it to be turned into the honey we enjoy. Honey can be used for cooking instead of granulated sugar, for treating minor cuts and scrapes, and is a great remedy for treating a sore throat.

                                                              Beeswax

Beeswax is made from honey bees' bodies.

Honey bees produce tiny scales of beeswax from their body that they use to build up the honey comb and cover the nectar that has been turned into honey. Beeswax that is extracted can be used to make beeswax candles, lip balms, and other skin care products.

Pollen

Pollen is collected by honey bees to be used as food.

When a honey bee visits flowers to collect nectar, it is also collecting pollen. The pollen collected is stored on the back two legs of the bee on their pollen baskets. The pollen collected is returned to the hive where it is stored in a honey comb cell to be used for food. Some people use pollen as a protein supplement. They add it to their cereal, yogurt, or even in smoothies.

Pictured is royal jelly in queen cells

Royal Jelly

A worker honey bee has glands on their head that produce a special liquid we call royal jelly. This jelly is crucial for growing queen bees, but humans also use it. Royal jelly contains botox, which prevents wrinkles, it is shown to help with wound care and can be found in skin and hair care products like the shampoo I use!

Honey Varieties

The Clover Honey pictured is made from the nectar of
the purple clover flowers also pictured.

Honey is a sweet treat that our honey bee friends make! The honey they make, and we enjoy, is made from the nectar of flowers. Each flower has a unique nectar that produces a unique honey. There are more than 300 different honeys in the United States, and more than 3,000 in the world. 

Those hundred and thousands of honey varieties have different tastes, textures, colors, and characteristics. Some honeys crystallize quicker than others, while others have an overall thicker consistency. You can have honey that is almost clear in color like Fireweed, but also honey that is so dark you can’t see through it like Buckwheat. With those different colored honeys comes different flavors and uses.

Honey’s beautiful spectrum of colors provide endless opportunity. Darker colored honeys have a stronger taste and can be great for cooking with meat. The lighter colored honey varieties are sweeter and perfect for using in baked goods.

A small sample of the varieties of honey
made by honey bees.

Some honeys even have very unique flavors based on the flowers the nectar came from. Orange Blossom Honey is a lighter colored honey, almost orange in color! It is sweeter and you can taste the citrus in it. Another unique honey is Sage Honey. It is a lighter colored honey that granulates (gets hard) slower than other types of honey.

The next time you are at a farmer’s market or see a honey booth at a fair or festival, look at the different honey for sale. You might see a wide variety of colors, and if you get the chance, you’ll be able to taste the different flavors and textures.

Honey is More Than a Sweet Treat!

Honey is an amazing substance. It is a health-conscious sweetener, the only never-spoiling food, and is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Honey comes in more than 3,000 varietals worldwide, depending on the nectar source from the honeybee! This causes each honey varietal to have a unique color, flavor, and chemical makeup. While most people know honey as a sweet food, many do not know about honey’s other uses.

Honey comes in over 3,000 varietals worldwide.

One of the most remarkable things about honey is that it is antibacterial. With Spring just around the corner, more and more folks are outside to enjoy the fresh season! However, between gardening, hiking, and other outdoor activities, there’s bound to be some scraped knees here and there. An incredible and natural way to care for minor wounds is honey! Some years ago, my dog Chuck ran away from home. When we finally caught up to him, he had a large cut on his paw. We took Chuck to the veterinarian, and after getting a number of stitches, she asked us to put honey on his wound. Because honey is only 17% water, bacteria cannot live in it. Additionally, honey is so viscous and thick that when it covers a wound it not only blocks bacteria from entering the wound, but it actually draws bacteria out. At the same time, it secretes a minute amount of hydrogen peroxide which actually promotes the healing process. Today, Chuck has minimal scarring and his paw is just fine. Honey works the same way on humans as it did on Chuck. Many hospitals now order honey in bulk for its medicinal purposes.

Chuck wearing a veterinarian- recommended honey cast for his wound.

Honey and other hive products are also often used in natural cosmetics. Being allergic to many artificial substances, I opt for all-natural cosmetic products, which typically feature honey. For example, the honey in my shampoo creates beautiful iridescent bubbles and develops a natural sheen to my hair because of its many vitamins and minerals.

Honey is truly a miracle substance. While many people only see honey as a delicious sweet treat, it is so much more than just a food!

2018 Representatives Crowned in Reno

The new American Honey Queen and Princess were selected at the 2018 American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Reno, Nevada.

2018 American Honey Queen

Kayla Fusselman from Pennsylvania

2018 American Honey Princess

Jenny Gross from Wisconsin

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

2018 American Honey Queen Kayla Fusselman and 2018 American Honey Princess Jenny Gross

2017 Representatives Crowned in Galveston

The new American Honey Queen and Princess were selected at the 2017 American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Galveston, Texas.

2017 American Honey Queen

Maia Jaycox from Iowa

2017 American Honey Princess

Hope Pettibon from Texas

Congratulations ladies! They will travel the United States promoting honey and beekeeping and post interesting articles about bees and honey along the way. Keep an eye out for the sweetest representatives in America!

2017 American Honey Queen Maia Jaycox & 2017 American Honey Princess Hope Pettibon