Protein Waffles

Ingredients

1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

1/2 Cup Rolled Oats

2 Eggs

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt (Plain or Vanilla)

SUEBEE® INFUSIONS® Vanilla flavored honey

Directions

Mix your ingredients together until smooth.  Turn on your waffle iron and coat with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour your mix in and cook your waffle until it turns a nice golden brown color.  Remove your waffle and top with SUEBEE®   honey. For Add your favorite toppings like bananas or berries.  For extra protein add peanut or almond butter!

Honeybee Wallpapers

Download our free honeybee-themed screen savers

Looking for a fresh new background for your phone? Maybe a new screen saver for your desktop computer? We got you covered!

Click below to download your favorite. Or, try all four!

Honey Watermelon Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup ripe seedless watermelon

1 cup of ice

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp SUE BEE® honey

1/2 greek yogurt – any flavor

Directions

Place all ingredients in blender and mix until smooth. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or a refreshing snack! Additional add-ins for extra protein: almond butter or vanilla protein powder.

Summer Snack Time

Snacks are in high demand in the summertime. Kids are home from school. The days are longer. And all those outdoor activities makes us hungry!

No need to panic, though – we have you covered. Here are three new snack recipes that are perfect for summertime tummy rumbles:

Honey Apple Nachos

Click HERE to view the recipe for these delicious apple bites.

Honey Yogurt Bark

Click HERE to get the recipe for our honey-kissed yogurt bark.

Honey Apple Energy Bites

Click HERE to see the recipe for our Honey Apple Energy Bites.

Honey Apple Energy Bites

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 small package of Bare Baked Crunchy Cinnamon Apple chips

1/2 cup SUE BEE® honey

1 cup almond butter

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Pour oats into bowl. Place about half a bag of apple chips into plastic bag. Seal bag and then crush with hand or mallet. Pour crushed chips into bowl with oats. Add coconut and cinnamon. Mix well. Add almond butter and honey, stir well and form into 2-inch balls. Store in an air tight container and keep in refrigerator. Enjoy as snacks or breakfast on the go!

Keep Your Busy Bees Busy

Download and print our activity sheets!

Did you know hummingbirds, bats, bees, butterflies and beetles are ALL pollinators?! Insects, even the ones that aren’t pollinators, are important, too! For Insect Week and National Pollinators Week, we created a series of insect-related activities, including a maze and color-by-number worksheet so your kiddos can join in on the fun!

Click here to download the printable versions of the
activity sheets!

Slow-cooker Honey Chipotle Tacos

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. of boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup SUE BEE® honey

1 packet of taco seasoning

2 chipotle peppers, from a can, packed in adobo sauce

1 tablespoon of adobo sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock or light beer

1 lime

Extra toppings: avocados, sour cream, red onions, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato

Tortillas

Directions

Spray slow-cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in chicken stock or beer. Place in chicken and add seasoning, peppers and adobo sauce. Squeeze juice from lime over all ingredients. Mix well. Turn slow-cooker on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve immediately with tortillas and any toppings you desire!

Honey & Fruit Pastries

Ingredients

1 package of puff pastry dough

Pears, Apples or Nectarines – sliced thin

SUE BEE® honey

Powdered sugar

1 egg (for egg wash)

Directions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Pour quarter-sized portions of honey in four areas on baking sheet. Layer 3-4 slices of desired fruit on top of honey. Drizzle honey over fruit. Lay 4″ x 4″ squares of puff pastry on top of fruit.  Brush pastry dough with egg wash or butter. Bake for 12-15 mins. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately.

Bee’s Knees Cocktail is Back!

By the way, do honeybees even have knees?

“Bee’s knees” – a famous cocktail, or a nice way to give a compliment? It’s both. And sometimes, you might even say, “This Bee’s Knees cocktail sure is the bee’s knees.”

Serendipitously, the two meanings of “bee’s knees” entered the English dialogue around the same time – in the 1920s. On one wing, “bee’s knees” is believed to have originated from the phrase “bee’s knees and cat’s whiskers,” which was a term used in the 1920s to refer to something that was considered excellent or top-notch.

On the other wing, “bee’s knees” also was used as the name of a cocktail that was popular during the 1920s Prohibition era, when people used ingredients like honey and lemon to tame the unpleasant taste of the moonshine gin that was available at the time. The original recipe was a simple concoction that called for gin, honey and lemon juice – honey to sweeten and lemon juice for a tart flavor – to balance the harsh taste of the gin.

After Prohibition ended in 1933, the Bee’s Knees drink lost favor as new and higher-quality (legal) liquors were made available. However, in recent years, classic cocktails and craft cocktails have become all the rage, and the Bee’s Knees is popular again. Helping fuel the resurgence is a trend toward natural ingredients. Honey, in particular, has become a popular ingredient in cocktails due to its unique flavor profile and what many believe to be health benefits.

Honey is a natural sweetener that is rich in antioxidants and has antibacterial properties. It is also a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of cocktails. When used in the Bee’s Knees, the honey adds a subtle sweetness that pairs well with the tartness of the lemon juice and the gin. It’s a winning combo that has led several widely known New York restaurants to currently feature the drink on their menus. The Bee’s Knees is once again the bee’s knees!

Want to try one? The mix is simple

Ingredients

2 oz gin

3/4 oz lemon juice (preferably freshly squeezed)

1/2 oz SUE BEE® honey

Lemon twist for garnish

Directions: Just add the ingredients in a shaker and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the lemon twist. Cheers!

About those knees …

All this talk about bee’s knees got us thinking … do honeybees actually have knees?

Contrary to what the name may suggest, bees do not have knees. Insects have jointed legs, and the segments of their legs are called coxae, trochanter, femur, tibia and tarsus. These segments provide flexibility and allow bees to move their legs in different directions, but they do not have a knee joint like humans do, says Jürgen Tautz in his book, “The Buzz About Bees.” 

Tautz explains that the joint between the tibia and femur is commonly referred to as the bee’s knee, but it is not a true knee joint like those found in humans or other animals because it doesn’t have a patella and fibula that form the hinge joint. 

The more you know …

Bee’s Knees Cocktail

Ingredients

2 oz gin

3/4 oz lemon juice (preferably freshly squeezed)

1/2 oz SUE BEE® honey

Lemon twist for garnish

Directions

Just add the ingredients in a shaker and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the lemon twist. Cheers!

Irish Honey Julep

Ingredients

1 tbsp SUE BEE® Honey

1.5 oz whiskey

1 Kiwi

1 cucumber

8 leaves mint

3 oz lime juice

1 oz tonic water

Directions

SUE BEE® Hot Hot Toddy

Curling up with a toasty-warm drink on a cold winter evening is a traditional nightcap for many. A hot toddy recipe – or, as some spell it, “hot tottie” or “hot toddie” – is simple: a little whiskey or brandy, a few spices, some hot water, and voilà! A hot toddy! And, of course, we always add a teaspoon of SUE BEE® honey to ours!

The origins of the hot toddy are blurry – kind of like your vision if you enjoy too many in one sitting – but they are often traced back to Ireland or Scotland, circa 18th century. Others trace the origins to British-controlled India during the same period. (And here we thought it was just a concoction our grandparents invented!)

Wherever they began, the hot toddy was – and still is – frequently used as a solution for colds to soothe a sore throat and relieve congestion. In fact, the hot toddy is so popular these days that it has taken on the role of chicken soup for adults. Feeling achy? Stuffed nose? Try a hot toddy. There’s even a chicken soup hot toddymade with chicken stock!

The word “toddy” is just as much a mystery as the origins of the drink. One belief is that it comes from the Hindi word “tari,” which refers to a type of palm sap that is fermented and used to make a sweet drink. That sweet drink was popular in India and Southeast Asia and, over time, became popular in other parts of the world, particularly in the Caribbean where it was made from other ingredients such as rum and honey. In the Caribbean, it is an especially popular drink during the holiday season and is usually served warm with spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon.

Of course, like many things, as time went on, the hot toddy evolved and has now become a popular anytime drink, especially for someone fighting a cold. And it’s still evolving today. Take our new toddy twist – the SUE BEE® INFUSIONS™ Hot Hot Honey Toddy. We’ve taken the traditional hot toddy and mixed in a half-ounce of our new zesty and sweet honey. It’s a sweet-and-spicy heat that turns that hot toddy on its ear. Want to try one? Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 oz whiskey, rum or bourbon
• 1/2 oz SUE BEE® INFUSIONS™ Hot Honey
• 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup hot water
• Cinnamon stick

Directions

In a teapot, bring the water to a simmer. Pour the hot water into a mug.

Add the whiskey, rum or bourbon, ½ ounce of honey and lemon juice. 

Stir until the honey has blended the hot water.

Taste, and add more honey more sweetness.

Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Enjoy!

Hired Wings

Almonds rule, but that’s not all honeybees are recruited to pollinate

When almond pollination season – mid-February to mid-March – rolls around each year, it means that, like many commercial beekeepers in the U.S., the Sioux Honey Co-op’s 200+ beekeepers have taken their honeybees to California to help with the state’s $8 billion almond industry.

How many honeybees? According to the USDA’s latest report, almond farmers paid to have 1,032,700 acres of almonds pollinated by honeybees in 2022. To pollinate that many acres, almond farmers needed about 1.88 million colonies of honeybees – about two hives per acre. With an average of about 40,000 honeybees per colony, that’s roughly 75.2 billion honeybees.

So … A LOT OF HONEYBEES!

Not just almonds

You might have heard an often-used phrase: Honeybees are responsible for pollinating one in every three bites of food. It’s hard to measure the accuracy of that but, in theory, it’s factual. Consider: We rely on honeybees and other pollinators to pollinate 71 of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food.

While almonds get the majority of honeybee pollination services (for our almond milk, almond butter, almond flour and other favorites), there are dozens of other fruits and vegetables that our beloved black-and-yellow insects pollinate – either naturally or as hired hands … err, wings. In fact, while other insects, like butterflies, provide pollination services, it’s the honeybee that pollinates the most foods we consume – more than 130 different fruits and vegetables. In the U.S. alone, honeybees pollinate an estimated $15 billion worth of crops every year.

Among the foods honeybees pollinate: apples, pumpkins, blueberries, cucumbers, onions, avocados, cherries, broccoli, cranberries, grapes, lettuce, strawberries, watermelon, and on and on.

Love coffee? Thank the honeybees for that; they pollinate the coffee cherry, which is a fruit, and the coffee bean itself is a part of the fruit. 

More on those pollination numbers

While the fruits and veggies on the rest of the list don’t match the million+ acres of almonds pollinated each year, honeybees do cover a lot of ground when it comes to paid pollination services. 

Apple farmers, for example, paid for about 120,700 honeybee hives to pollinate about 133,400 acres of apples in 2022. Blueberry farmers leased about 101,500 hives to pollinate about 39,900 acres during the same time. And cherry farmers employed about 134,300 colonies (about 5.3 billion honeybees) to pollinate 68,910 acres of cherries.

All of which means, if we could hug a honeybee, we would. Each and every one of them! It also means, we need to continue to do all we can to help the honeybee thrive. In recent years, the honeybee’s global population has been diminished by things like the decrease in forgeable land due to monoculture farming, the relentless varroa mites, and mysterious, hard-to-pinpoint reasons that often fall under the label of “colony collapse disorder,” where entire colonies disappear overnight.

Sioux Honey beekeepers – along with other commercial beekeepers – have been keeping up with the losses by helping create new hives through the “splitting” of healthy hives. Beekeepers take a portion of an established colony and transfer it to a separate hive nearby and, thus, create two colonies from one. So, while we’re handing out hugs, let’s pass a few along to our Sioux Honey Co-op beekeepers for doing their part to ensure the sustainability of the honeybee.

Honey Hot Hot Toddy

Ingredients

3/4 cup hot water

1 tbsp SUE BEE® INFUSIONS™ Hot honey

3 oz lemon juice

1 oz whiskey or bourbon

Directions

Bring hot water to a simmer in a saucepan. Pour into mug. Add honey, lemon juice and whiskey or bourbon. Stir with cinnamon stick and garnish with lemon slice.

Oven Fried Halloumi with Hot Honey

Ingredients

1 package of halloumi cheese (7-9 ounces)

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

2 tbsp corn meal

2 eggs

SUE BEE® Infusions™ Hot Honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut halloumi cheese into 1-inch square chunks. Beat eggs in one bowl. Pour panko and cornmeal into another bowl. Dip each piece of cheese into egg and then panko mixture. Place on non-stick baking sheet. Spray each cheese square with butter-flavored cooking spray to coat. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Dip or drizzle with hot honey!

Easy Air Fryer Gnocchi

Ingredients

1 package of gnocchi

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp paprika

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

SUE BEE® Honey BBQ Sauce for dipping

Directions

Pour gnocchi into air fryer. Cover with olive oil, paprika and parmesan cheese. Stir well to coat. Set air fryer to 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Stir after 5 minutes. Cook until outer shell is lightly brown and crispy. (Note: For extra crispy, turn air fryer up to 400 degrees and cook for 2-4 more minutes) Dip in honey BBQ and enjoy!

Meet Your New Favorite BBQ Sauce

Sioux Honey unveils updated SUE BEE® Honey BBQ Sauce – Original and Sweet & Spicy

Back in 1980, we introduced SUE BEE® Honey BBQ Sauce – an original version and a sweet and spicy version. Forty-three years later, we’re proud to debut new and improved versions of this classic.

So, what did we change? Most other honey BBQ sauces include a high fructose corn syrup or similar ingredients, in addition to honey. And for a while, ours did, too. But not anymore. We’ve decided to make honey the No. 1 ingredient in our new SUE BEE® Honey BBQ Sauce – both original and sweet and spicy. 

Our sauce is crafted with a unique blend of pure, natural SUE BEE® honey, rich tomatoes and natural spices. Its No. 1 ingredient is U.S. Grade A honey sourced from the independent beekeepers of the Sioux Honey Co-op.

These honey BBQ sauces are ideal for a marinade or glaze for grilled or roasted meats, as well as dipping sauces for a wide variety of foods. And don’t forget the sides – like our Sweet Honey Cornbread; our SUE BEE® Honey-Glazed Carrots; or our Almond Green Beans.

Need more ways to use our new Honey BBQ sauce? There are dozens of ways to use our SUE BEE® Honey BBQ sauces. Taste of Home names “53 Things You Can Do with Barbecue Sauce.”  And we’re pretty sure there are even more ways to use these tangy and delicious sauces. Got a favorite BBQ recipe? Post it on our Sioux Honey Facebook page!

Honey to the Rescue

Try soothing that sore throat and cough with honey

Kiddos with the sniffles are in above-average numbers this year, which has led to a higher-than-normal demand for over-the-counter children’s medications. But doctors warn that children shouldn’t be given adult medicines in place of treatments made for children.

Instead, some doctors are suggesting natural alternatives. For coughs and sore throats, some say a spoonful or two of honey for children over 1 year old can help offer relief. 

“Pediatricians recommend honey as a treatment for cough because it works. Studies show that honey works better than traditional ‘cough medicine’ in reducing nighttime cough symptoms,” Dr. Elisabeth DiPietro, a pediatrician at Hyde Park Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, told Romper.com.

Dr. Tanner Isaacson of Pediatric Associates in Kansas City, Mo., also says children can be given honey for their cough. “That actually works just as good as any of that over-the-counter stuff that you buy for cough, for colds.” Dr. Isaacson told KMBC-TV in Kansas City.

Of course, we’ve known SUE BEE® honey makes an ideal natural aide for coughs and sore throats for ages. Have you tried our “Honey Drops”? Find the recipe HERE. 

And one of our all-time favorites during the winter cold and flu season is a hot cup of tea with our SUE BEE® INFUSIONS™ Lemon Flavored Honey. Mmm – so soothing!

Whether you’re an adult or a kiddo, honey can help soothe that sore throat and cough brought on by winter sniffles. Just remember, children younger than 1 year old should not consume honey because it presents a risk of infant botulism.

Honey Roasted Veggies

Ingredients

2 cups carrots, sliced lengthwise

2 cups baby red potatoes, halved

2 cups Brussels sprouts, peeled and halved

1-2 tbsp SUE BEE® Infusions Hot Honey

2 tbsp miso

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 garlic cloves, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Clean and prep all vegetables and place into large bowl. Mix miso, garlic, honey, soy sauce and olive oil in a separate bowl. Pour miso mixture over vegetables and stir well. Place vegetables into cast-iron skillet and cook over medium heat until vegetables begin to soften: 5-10 minutes. Remove cast-iron skillet and place in oven for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables have a nice char.

Skip the pan-fry for less mess: place vegetables and miso mixture in baking dish and roast for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

Gingerbread Cookies?

How about gingerbread cake this holiday season!

Gingerbread cookies are a holiday staple, but have you ever tried gingerbread cake? If not, well, have we got a recipe for you! And when it comes to baking, we always substitute sugar with SUE BEE® honey, when possible.

Ingredients

Cake:

1 cup SUE BEE® honey

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the baking pans

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup water

Frosting:

½ cup SUE BEE® honey

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 stick of unsalted butter

8 oz. cream cheese

Whole cream, as needed for thinning

Directions: For the cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter and flour two round cake pans.
• Stir together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, cloves and salt in a large bowl and set aside. 
• Combine the brown sugar and butter in another large bowl and mix until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs and vanilla and combine.
• Stir the honey into the boiling water and mix on low speed while adding the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes.
• Let the cakes cool completely.
• Flip the cakes onto a rack.

For the Frosting:

• Combine the butter and cream cheese in a mixer bowl and mix on high until light and fluffy.
• Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar and honey and combine.
• Add the vanilla and gradually increase mix speed. Mix until frosting is light and fluffy (you can add a half-tablespoon to 1 tablespoon of milk if needed so the frosting is spreadable.
• Place one cake layer flat side down on a cake stand or platter.
• Top with about 3/4 cup of the frosting.
• Place the remaining cake layer on top, flat side up, and spread the remaining frosting on the entire cake.