WHEREAS, honey is made from flower nectar, which is collected by bees, naturally broken down into simple sugars and stored in honeycombs; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, Virginia honey harvested from 5,000 colonies yielded an average of 35 pounds per colony, and total production was valued at $1 million; and
WHEREAS, bees in a beehive may collectively travel as many as 55,000 miles and may visit as many as two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make one pound of honey; and
WHEREAS, in their quest to produce honey, bees pollinate many Virginia crops and add more than $15 billion in extra value to the nation’s agricultural output; and
WHEREAS, honey is used in various foods and beverages as a sweetener and flavoring, and also has been used in various medicinal traditions to treat ailments; and
WHEREAS, much of the honey in Virginia is harvested during September, and Virginia Honey Month is an opportunity to acknowledge the work of those harvesting honey and the value of honey to Virginians;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ralph S. Northam, do hereby recognize September 2018 as VIRGINIA HONEY MONTH in our COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.