What’s the buzz?

World Honey Bee Day will be recognized this year on August 15 and it is a great time to celebrate some of the most important creatures on the planet as well as their keepers.

When people think of bees, they usually default to pollination and honey, and with good reason. Bees are important pollinators, helping to spread the popularity of many of our important plants.

Not only do honey bees help keep our wildlife thriving, but they also provide honey, a sweet treat that flavors many natural foods. Honey also has healing properties and local honey can help people with allergies.

Bees are attracted to sweets, too, and may be drawn to some of your favorite treats, but a bee won’t sting unless he feels threatened, so slow moves are always your best line of defense.

For World Honey Bee Day, you might want to create a bee garden or visit the one at UC Davis (https://beegarden.ucdavis.edu/). Maybe you will want to plant a garden with flowers that attract bees or visit a honey farm, like Marshall’s in American Canyon (https://www.marshallshoney.com/). At the very least, try to use  #WorldHoneyBeeDay on your social media posts and see what happens!

According to www.nationaldaycalendar.com, “World Honey Bee Day began as National Honey Bee Day in 2009 with a proclamation issued by the Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsek. The day grew rapidly bringing awareness to the benefits and environmental needs of honey bees.”