September is National Honey Month, so as we head into September (Already!?!?) I wanted take a moment and celebrate the reason we have honey – the humble honeybee.

Bees are essential for the health of people and the planet. Not only do bees make delicious honey, which has medicinal properties, they play a key role as pollinator, making them vital for our earth's entire eco and food system.

I’ve gotta admit I fell down a bit of a google rabbit hole recently looking up facts about them. They are so cool! This is just a tiny sampling of what I’ve learned:

• They’re Fast. Honey bees can fly up to 15 miles per hour
• They’re Diverse. There are more than 20,000 species of bees around the world
• They Dance! Bees dance to communicate the location of the best food sources to other bees

 We need these buzzy little creatures for survival, but unfortunately, their existence is being threatened. 1 in 4 bee species is at risk for extinction. 

To honor the bees, we donated 10% of all our proceeds on August 19 (National Honey Bee Day) to The Bee Conservancy. The Bee Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting bees, safeguarding the environment, and securing food justice through community-based education, research, habitat creation and advocacy. 

I’m excited to share that we raised just over $350 for The Bee Conservancy! The funds will go toward helping ensure bees will still be buzzing around in the future.

Some of our most beloved products at our stores are made with honey. Both our Honey Ginger White Balsamic Vinegar and Serrano Honey Specialty Vinegar pair honey with spicy ginger or chili – creating a bottle of sweet heat – delicious for marinades and dressings. You can check out some of our favorite recipes for these products, including favorites like Serrano Honey Glazed Shrimp and Honey Ginger Wings here.

We keep the sweet heat train going when it comes to our spice blends, with Honey Jalapeno Rub and Spiced Honey Bacon Rub. We’ve been reaching for these a lot this summer when grilling, they are divine!

So next time you drizzle one of our honey infused balsamics over your salad or raise a glass of honey-sweetened chamomile tea, take a moment to appreciate the incredible, amazing, SPECTACULAR bee.

Caio!

Andi