For many, the honey bee we are most familiar with is Honey Nut Cheerios’ spokesperson (or spokesbee) BuzzBee, the little character who wears an orange T-shirt and trendy sneakers, often seen waxing poetic about heart health in TV commercials and on the cover of cereal boxes. But these days, the simple, anatomically correct honey bee has also become a mascot for a cause — that of protecting the environment since so much of our planet’s flora and fauna rely on bees.
A national holiday to recognize the honey bee occurs on the third Saturday of every August, this year on August 17, the 10th anniversary of National Honey Bee Day. The holiday was created back in 2009 by former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for the purpose of bringing together beekeepers and bee enthusiasts, as well as anyone who wants to participate in an appreciation of the insect and its role in all our lives.
As vital as the charismatic black-and-yellow striped bug may be, its role in North America’s ecological history is somewhat tumultuous. Like many of the food crops and livestock that make up the American diet, honey bees are not native to the continent. Some scientists have even pointed out that they can hinder the survival of native, wild bee species. But the truth is “without honey bees, we don’t have enough other pollinators to pollinate all the food we grow,” said master beekeeper and bee expert Nick Wigle .