Did you know it’s National Honeybee Day? I just found out, and if I hadn’t been looking online it would have gone unnoticed. Now that we’re beekeepers, everyday is a honeybee day! They’re even having a big awareness event today at the Portland Farmers Market.

As a first time honeybee owner, I’ve been really impressed with how easy it is to care for honeybees. They practically take care of themselves. This Spring we fed them sugar water and pollen patties, but this summer the only thing we’ve done is make sure they have a readily accessible water source.

The Benefits of Keeping Honeybees certainly outweigh the work…

• The honeybees keep me entertained on a daily bases, I love to watch them out the back window.
• The honeybees have increased the bird population in the yard. The birds are always looking to eat up a dead honeybee.
• In a few short weeks, we’ll have more fresh honey than we’ll know what to do with.
• We have happy neighbors with overflowing gardens who feel compelled to share the bounty. On several occasions I’ve heard “this is the most productive my garden has ever been!” We’ve been given jam, vegetables, and fruit!

Honeybees are also really important to the ecosystem and livelihood of America…

• Honeybees are responsible for one in every three bites of food that we eat
• Honeybees pollinate more than $19 Billion worth of crops each year
• Honeybees produce more than $150 Million worth of honey each year in the United States

That’s enough to make me want to hug a honeybee…on second though, maybe not. Instead, I encourage everyone to support your local beekeeper, advocate for lessening the use of harmful pesticides, and buy local honey!