WORLD HONEY BEE DAY
World Honey Bee Day on the third Saturday in August brings a buzzing celebration for beekeepers, honey lovers, and all blooming things.
#WorldHoneyBeeDay
The day recognizes both the honey bee and the beekeepers who tend the hives. It also encourages everyone to enjoy and buy locally grown honey.
Another important part of the day includes learning about honey bees and providing them with a supportive environment. When we plant wildflowers, orchards, and other flowering plants, we support pollinators such as honey bees. They depend on the nectar of a variety of plants for their survival. Conversely, we depend on honeybees for our survival, too! Without their pollinating abilities, many nutritious plants wouldn’t reproduce.
Besides, their delicious honey is an added bonus. We enjoy it in our baking, teas, and confections.
Honey bees do sting, but only if they perceive a threat – damage to their hive or being swatted at. Since they seek sweet nectar, sugary drinks and sweets will attract honey bees when flowers are not blooming yet. So, keep your beverages covered. If a honey bee comes close, either hold still or move slowly away. The honey bee will fly along to the next sweet thing as long as it doesn’t feel threatened.
HOW TO OBSERVE WORLD HONEY BEE DAY
- Collect and spread local wildflower seeds to promote honey bee pollination.
- Flavors of honey vary depending on the variety of flowers and nectar available to the bees.
- Clover, alfalfa, lavender, orange, and chestnut are just a few to choose from.
- Replace your usual sweetener with honey for the day. Taste the difference!
- Give the gift of honey to a friend, neighbor, co-worker or family member.
Don’t forget to share with your honey, too! Use #WorldHoneyBeeDay to post on social media.
WORLD HONEY BEE DAY HISTORY
World Honey Bee Day began as National Honey Bee Day in 2009 with a proclamation issued by the Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsek. The day grew rapidly bringing awareness to the benefits and environmental needs of honey bees.
Honey Bee FAQ
Q. What does a beekeeper do?
A. Also known as an Apiarist, a beekeeper is responsible for maintaining hives. This may include inspecting for disease and other issues, replace the queen bee if needed, provide forage or bee food, offer pollination services, and harvest honey.
Q. How many honey bees live in one hive?
A. One honey bee colony can have a population of 20,000 to 60,000 bees.
Q. How much honey does one hive produce?
A. It all depends on the availability of nectar and the health of the hive. Season of drought, rain, or disease will impact a hive. When conditions are ideal a healthy hive can produce up to 200 pounds of honey per year.
Q. How many queens does a honey bee colony have?
A. One. If the queen dies, the hive or the beekeeper will replace her. The hive also consists of male bees called drones and female worker bees.
Dates:
20 August 2022
19 August 2023
17 August 2024
16 August 2025
15 August 2026
21 August 2027
19 August 2028
18 August 2029
17 August 2030
