All About Honey: How Is it Made?

Happy National Honey Month! 

Have you seen honey in your local grocery store? The farmer’s market? Your own kitchen at home? Have you ever tasted honey on toast or in tea? You may know that honeybees make it…but how?

When bees visit flowers, they drink a sweet syrup called nectar using their straw-like tongue called a proboscis and carry it back to their hive in their honey stomach. There, they exchange the nectar with other bees in the hive using their proboscis, which they insert into their honeycomb cells. The bees flap their wings at 11,700 times per minute to dry it out (dehydration), and then allow the nectar to mature into thick, sweet honey! Once it’s ready, they seal it up with wax to keep it fresh. Like adding a lid to their very own honey jar! 

Not all honey is the same. It can look and taste different depending on the flowers the bees visit. Orange blossom honey is light and fruity, while buckwheat honey is dark and bold. Some honey is runny, and some is thick like buttery fondant! There is a honey for everybody!

Want to try honey for yourself? Visit a farmers' market in your town with your family or friends and taste different kinds made by local honeybees. You can also try cooking with honey at home using the recipes from our blog, drizzle it on toast, stir it into yogurt, or sweeten tea with a spoonful.

Next time you enjoy honey, make sure to thank the busy bees who made it!

National Honey Month

Happy National Honey Month! To celebrate, I encourage you to try these two recipes that use honey!

Lemonade Honey Punch from the National Honey Board

Ingredients
For Ginger Honey Syrup:
-  1 cup of honey 
-  5 thin slices of peeled ginger
-  1⁄2 cup of water

For Lemonade:
-  1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
-  24 oz. apple juice
-  5 cups water
-  Lemon slices for serving

Directions: Simmer the Ginger Honey Syrup ingredients in a heavy saucepan for about 30 minutes, set aside to cool. Remove the ginger slices and discard. In a large pitcher combine the lemon juice, apple juice and water. Stir in the cooled Ginger Honey Syrup. Fill each glass with ice and the lemonade, garnish with a lemon slice.

Tip: To make your lemonade punch sparkling, substitute the water in the lemonade for club soda.

Honey-Lime Coleslaw from www.tasteofhome.com 

Ingredients
-  1 1⁄2 teaspoons of grated lime zest
-  1⁄4 cup lime juice
-  2 tablespoons of honey
-  1 minced garlic clove
-  1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
-  1⁄4 teaspoon of pepper
-  1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
-  3 tablespoons canola oil
-  1 small head of red cabbage
-  1 cup of shredded carrots
-  2 thinly sliced green onions
-  1⁄2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
Whisk together the first 7 ingredients until smooth. Gradually whisk in oil until blended. Combine cabbage, carrots and green onions; toss with lime mixture to lightly coat. Refrigerate, covered, 2 hours. Sprinkle with cilantro.

National Honey Month

September is National Honey Month! It is a time to celebrate and offer our thanks to honeybees and beekeepers across the United States. Typically, honey collection season ends in September and many are enjoying a freshly extracted crop of honey. Yum!

Honeybees are responsible for pollinating 1/3 of our food, their contribution valued at $20 billion! In her 6-week lifetime, a single worker bee produces approximately 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey by visiting around 2,600 flowers. Amazing! Honey comes in a variety of colors and flavors based on the nectar source. During this pandemic time, we have started a new YouTube video series teaching about different honey varieties from all over the Unites States. We invite you to follow along!

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!