Celebrating the Magic of Honey Bees

Whether it’s the simple sweetness of their honey or the complex ecological underpinnings that support the diversity of harvests worldwide, we are grateful for the bounty we get from honey bees. Each year, we are happy to celebrate National Honey Bee Day and remind our team and guests about the true miracle of the busy, buzzing honey bee.

BEE Aware

• Bees have existed for more than 50 million years.
• One out of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on pollinators.
• 70 of the world’s top 100 crops are pollinated by honey bees, including potatoes, blueberries & most berries, broccoli, melon, avocados, many nuts, sesame, sunflowers, apples, peaches, cucumbers, squash, grapes, tomatoes, and many more. Almonds are entirely reliant on bee pollination.
• In the United States, more than $15 billion dollars worth of crops are pollinated by bees each year.

Did you know these UnBEElievable Honey Bee Facts?

• One bee makes 1/2 teaspoon of honey in its entire life.
• Honey bees NEVER SLEEP.
• Honey bees wings stroke 200 times per second.
• Honey bees communicate with each other by dancing!
• Honey is naturally antibacterial and antimicrobial.

Funding Honey Bee Research

For 11 years, we funded the George Washington Undergraduate Honey Bee Research Laboratory & Apiary which included supporting:

🐝 120 Bee Hives
🐝 5,000,000 Honey Bees
👩‍🎓 14 Undergraduate Student Beekeepers maintaining the hives
📚 46 Undergraduate Students researching bee behavior patterns and colony collapse disorders
🍯 Over 2,500 pounds of honey harvested & used in our restaurants and our distillery

The GW beekeeping research project focused on the different aspects of honey bee life and health, while providing a safe place for our urban pollinators. Giving to this undergraduate research team ensured the continued protection of honey bees and our food ecosystem as a whole. To learn more about the previous incredible efforts of GW Honey Bee Research Laboratory, check out the GW Buzz for more buzzworthy research – straight from the lab.

Supporting Honey Bee Education

We have also funded honey bee education with Sweet Virginia, a non-profit organization with a mission to inspire and educate children about the wonders of honey bees and the critical role they play in pollinating fruits and vegetables, as well as their overall positive impact on the environment. Sweet Virginia grows fields upon fields of sunflowers and a variety of flowers, which help support the bee colonies that live on their land.

Where We Source Our Honey

We source the majority of the honey used in our restaurants from Beyla Honey, third-generation honey bee farmers Nick and Tawnie Jensen in Grant County, North Dakota. Their raw, clover honey comes directly to us on our North Dakota Farmers Union 18-wheelers.

We are proud to work with all of these incredible beekeepers and advocates to support a diverse food supply worldwide and continue to serve our guests delicious favorites like our Skillet Cornbread with Honey Butter. With all that honey bees do for us on a daily basis, we hope you will join us in celebrating them today and every day.