September is National Honey Month

Not only does September typically usher in football season, last-minute summer vacations, and the beginnings of fall-like weather, the month happens to celebrate one of our favorite things. HONEY!

September is National Honey Month. Since 1989, when the National Honey Board declared the month of September as National Honey Month the month has been utilized as a way to promote the beekeeping industry, beekeeping in the United States, and, of course, honey! While we all know honey as Mother Nature’s sweetener honey is so much more than a sweet treat and the beekeeping industry is a vital part of agriculture across the globe!

You might be asking how you can help celebrate National Honey Month, we have some suggestions.

World Honey Market crews at work

Support Local Honey

By supporting local honey producers, you can verify that the honey you’re purchasing is truly raw and has beneficial properties that have been used for centuries to treat many ailments. This also helps to strengthen communities and benefits local and regional apiary businesses.

Plant bee-friendly flowers

Even if you don’t keep bees, planting a bee-friendly garden is something anyone can do.

When selecting your garden blooms, make sure to include some local native plants in a variety of different colors.

Bees, like humans, enjoy diversity. Include flowers of different sizes and shapes and plant in clumps to make foraging a breeze.

Find plants that bloom at different times of the year. Support a range of different pollinators throughout the different seasons. Trees and shrubs produce much higher quantities of pollen and nectar, however, smaller plants produce forage more regularly – it’s great to have a selection of both.

Try honey as a substitute in your favorite recipes

Honey has a lot of benefits over granular sugar. Honey has more vitamins and minerals, is sweeter, and has been shown to raise one's blood sugar more slowly. If you buy local, it is unrefined and natural. Another perk, it also will keep your baked goods moister longer. Here's how to substitute honey for sugar in a recipe.

To start with, it's a good idea to substitute up to half of the sugar in a given recipe. Once you've experimented more and have a better handle on how it works, you can try a higher percentage of honey. Here are the principles of substituting honey for sugar:

• Up to one cup, honey can be substituted for sugar in equal amounts. For example, you can substitute 1/2 cup of honey for 1/2 cup of sugar called for in a recipe. Over one cup, use about 2/3-3/4 cup of honey for every cup of sugar. This is because honey is actually sweeter than sugar.

• Honey is a liquid, so you'll need to reduce the liquid in the recipe a little. Do this at a rate of 1/4 cup less liquid for every cup of honey used in the recipe.

• Honey is also a little acidic. To counteract this, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for every cup of honey used.

• Honey causes baked goods to brown more quickly, so reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F and watch carefully as the time gets close.

General Rule

• 1 cup of sugar = ¾ cup honey

• Decrease liquid called for in the recipe by ¼ cup

• For each cup of honey in baked goods, add ½ teaspoon baking soda

Let us know if you have other fun ways you celebrate National Honey Month!