Honey Month!

Now I absolutely love honey.

I love the bees. I love the hives. I love the combs…I just love it all, really. So when I found out we not only had a month dedicated to honey, BUT we were IN that month…I immediately started click clacking on the internet.

While looking into bees I was reminded of three prominent causes for their distress: habitat loss, pesticides, and the dreaded Varroa mite. Keeping this in mind I took myself on a refresher of things the average person (with or without a yard) can do to help give a boost and keep the honey flowing!

Here are some things I learned:

i. plant a bee friendly garden with a) plants native to your area, b) single flower crops, & c) variation so something is flowering all year

ii. use natural pesticides and fertilizers

iii. let some dandelions, clovers, and wildflowers (yes, I mean the weeds) grow free

iv. leave out consistent water sources

v. plant a flowering tree(s) for bees

vi. buy local honey

If you’re like me you’re probably thinking: most of this is definitely geared towards people with yards/plant space… In my current place I definitely can’t just go out and plant a tree or really decide on landscaping at all, but I can decide on my potted plants (all of which are kept outside for the sake of my partner). When it came to finding local honey; however, I was able to find one about twenty miles away which was awesome!

SIDE NOTE: I personally didn’t find my local honey on the search engine linked above. I found mine using google and my location, so don’t feel discouraged if it seems like there’s nothing near you because there probably is. It just might be a smaller operation.

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

September