Honey — it’s a sweet and delicious substance that adds great flavor to morning toast, creates decadent desserts, and even packs some serious nutritional benefits. This September, during National Honey Month, we are psyched to celebrate all the ways that honey enhances our lives. Find out exactly why we love this festive month, and learn key moments that have taken place during honey’s history.
National Honey Month timeline
A.A. Milne created the lovable honey-loving bear, Winnie the Pooh.
European settlers introduced beekeeping to the New England colonies.
Honey was used as a form of currency in places throughout Europe.
The Ancient Chinese used honey because of its spectacular medicinal properties.
Ancient Egyptians leave hieroglyphs about beekeeping in an ancient Sun Temple near Cairo.
National Honey Month Activities
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Take a beekeeping tour
You'll get up close to beehives and find out what it takes for that jar of honey to safely get tucked away in your pantry.
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Host a honey tasting party
Gather up a few different high quality jars of honey, invite a few friends over, and indulge your sweet tooth.
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Whip up a honey-themed dessert
Baklava, flan, cupcakes, and ice cream. All of these sweet treats spectacularly lend themselves to becoming delicious honey-flavored desserts. There are a ton of excellent recipes out there for honey desserts, so the possibilities here are endless.
5 Of The Sweetest Things About Honey
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Bees try hard
Still, the average worker bee only produces about one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey throughout its entire lifetime.
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That's a lot of flowers
For every pound of honey, honeybees must tap over two million flowers.
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Insect chefs
Bees are the only insect that produce a substance that is edible by humans.
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Honey isn't just for bees
Mexican honey wasps are also known for producing honey.
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Not created equally
There are different variations of honey. Depending on the type of flower used during production, honey will have different colors and flavors.
Why We Love National Honey Month
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Honey is a health aid
Dating back to ancient times, honey has been used throughout the world for its medicinal purposes. The next time you have a cough, try reaching for a jar of honey since the World Health Organization reports that honey is a able to coat and soothe throat irritation. Honey is even known to help heal canker sores and relieve dry skin.
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It's a natural sweetener
Honey is excellent for curing almost any sweet tooth. Unlike some highly processed sugars and sugar-like substances out there, honey is chemical free and found directly in nature.
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Honey might help you sleep better
In short, honey causes insulin levels to rise, and when this happens, serotonin gets released throughout the bloodstream. Serotonin gets converted into melatonin, and melatonin has been known to aid in getting you off to dreamland.
National Honey Month dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | September 1 | Friday |
| 2024 | September 1 | Sunday |
| 2025 | September 1 | Monday |
| 2026 | September 1 | Tuesday |
| 2027 | September 1 | Wednesday |
