Preserving and Protecting Texas Honey Production

In 2019, at a special meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of London, some of the planet’s top wildlife experts and scientists made a somewhat surprising declaration: The most important animal on the planet, they said, is the humble bee.

Bees, they argued, are vitally important to sustaining the ecosystem. Seventy percent of the world’s agriculture is reliant on bees; they are important pollinators; and they have been determined to be the only living creatures that do not carry pathogens.

Bees are crucial to Texas’ ecosystem — and they have helped make Texas one of the nation’s top five honey-producing states. It’s estimated that Texas produced 7.9 million pounds of honey in 2017.

Honey producers in Texas range from large companies to mom-and-pop businesses to hobbyists who have turned their passion for honey into sweet finds. Wherever you are in the state, you are likely to find a local honey that captures a flavor profile you can be sure is unique to the Lone Star State.

Here’s a look at some of our most important produce.

A History of Honey

Bees are not native to Texas, though by the time some of the first European settlers arrived, bee colonies were thriving. The Spanish, it is believed, originally brought bees to Texas during their explorations, understanding the importance of bees not only for producing honey but also for aiding in pollination and agriculture.

An early German colonist named Wilhelm Brukish moved to Texas in 1842 and began experimenting with bee production. He wrote the first book about beekeeping in Texas and introduced the hive box.

Many pioneers cultivated bees for honey and to produce beeswax candles, but by the end of the 19th century, a bee industry was emerging in Texas. Bees in Texas produced honey by pollinating the state’s many nectar-bearing wildflowers and plants. In 1901, the Texas Legislature established an apiary at Texas A&M University to support research into bees and promote education around beekeeping. In 1903, the Texas Beekeepers Association met for the first time at A&M. Together, they helped establish inspection systems and production guidelines that helped grow the honey industry in the state.

Today, organizations such as the Texas Beekeepers Association, the Honey Bee Lab at A&M, the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, and Real Texas Honey help to promote beekeeping, further research around honey production, and evaluate Texas-made honey to ensure its authenticity and purity.

You can find honey producers now in every part of the state, though many producers are clustered around the major metro areas.

Eat Local

There are many reasons to eat local honey — like supporting local beekeepers and enjoying something uniquely delicious. It’s also healthy:

• Honey is a source of antioxidants: Research has shown that honey contains polyphenol antioxidants — similar to those found in fruits, vegetables, tea, and olive oil — that can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.
• Honey contains antibacterial and antifungal properties: Raw honey contains a natural hydrogen peroxide, which means it can be used to kill bacteria and fungus. It’s long been used as a folk remedy to prevent infections.
• Honey soothes sore throats: They say a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but with a spoonful of honey, you might not need any medicine. That’s because honey can soothe your sore throat and can work as a cough suppressant. Mixed with hot tea and lemon, it’s a popular cold fighter.

Flora & Flavors

The flavor of honey has everything to do with where it’s made. That’s because honeybees use the pollen and nectar they find in the world around them. Sometimes beekeepers locate their hives near particular plants in order to harvest honey with a particular flavor profile. But generally, the available wildflowers and plants that naturally grow in an area will impact the flavor of the honey.

• The Panhandle: The harsh climate of the northern plains offers pollen from cotton, lavender, and alfalfa, making for a uniquely sweet, floral honey.
• East Texas: Abundant wildflowers, goldenrod, tallow, and other sources of nectar and pollen make for full-bodied honey with hints of cinnamon and citrus.
• West Texas: Out west, huajillo and mesquite can produce two different kinds of honey. Huajillo is very light with a mild taste and a distinctive aroma, while mesquite produces a dark honey that tastes of brown sugar.
• Central Texas: Clover and a variety of wildflowers that bloom at different times of the year make for smooth, buttery honeys that range from very light blond to darker, late-year productions.
• South Texas: The warmer Rio Grande Valley climate produces an orange-blossom honey that’s white or light amber and pronouncedly citrusy.

Challenges Facing Bees

Bees have been facing a lot of challenges in recent years, including colony collapse disorder, which is responsible for the loss of a huge number of beehives. During the 2018–19 winter, an estimated 37.7% of managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. were lost.

Researchers believe varroa mites may be responsible for many of the colony losses. But there are many more threats to bees, including land-use changes that have eliminated pollinators; dominant species such as Africanized honeybees; and, some believe, signals from 5G towers that may confuse and disorient bees. These have caused many complicated and multifaceted challenges for honey producers large and small.

Unique Texas Honeys

• Texas Honeybee Guild, Dallas: This urban honey producer keeps hives throughout North Texas and bottles each batch based on ZIP code, so you know you’ll be eating hyper-local ingredients.
• Stroope Honey Farms, Pearland: Stroope’s raw, unfiltered wildflower honey may hide a hint of citrus, owing to the satsuma orchard that sits on their farm.
• Fain’s Honey, Buchanan Dam: This Hill Country honey draws most of its flavor from the scrappy bee brush or white brush that grows in the rocky soil, making for a sweet-smelling honey with a distinctive flavor.
• Walker Honey Farm, Rogers: The Walker farm produces a wide variety of honey types, from Tallow Tree Honey to Tupelo Honey and more.

Texas Beekeepers

Honey producers in Texas range from agricultural companies to farmers to hobbyists, and their products can be found everywhere from grocery stores to farm stands. While there’s a great range of approaches and styles for making honey, each beekeeper shares a passion for the magical little creatures who do the tough work.

Karen Mitchell, Miss B Hiving, Lufkin
“Back in the ’80s, my dad did not have anything pollinating his garden except a few wasps. He suggested I get into beekeeping and set hives on his place. I bought two beehives and did not know anything about bees. I did not have a smoker, suit, mentor, or any help. Yet they survived the winter and pollinated his garden the following spring. I live in East Texas, where there is an abundance of wildflowers, goldenrod, tallow, and other sources of nectar and pollen. If you travel in any direction, the flora changes and the honey has its own distinctive flavor. Texas is geographically large and vegetally diverse. This creates a variety of flavors, colors, and marketing potential. Every year, we taste the honey with high expectations, because no two years ever taste the same or have the same coloration. Of course, each year is better than the previous one. I think what makes Texas honey special is the same reason why Texas is a good state for making honey: diversity.”

Cynthia Schiotis, Whitethorn Apiary, Sonora
“In 1989, I worked with some beekeepers in Houston who helped me with my first experience in beekeeping. I remember their hives were seven supers high when they were full of honey. In those days, beekeeping was simple and beautiful. I returned to San Antonio in 1999 and started up with four hives there. Finally, we moved out to Sonora to retire. We only have about 3 acres, but we liked the area for the amount and types of native bee plants available for nectar — acacia, mesquite, Wright’s bee brush, huajillo, cactus, clovers, succulents, privet, etc. — and others like shrub oak. Depending on the amount of rain we receive and the time we receive it, I can get about 60 pounds of honey from a two-brood-box and a two-super-box hive.”

Paige and George Nester, Creek House Honey Farm, Canyon
“We began keeping bees 10 years ago. Our kids had a pumpkin patch, and we had read that bees would help with the pollination. We love our bees! Watching another creature go about their business and seeing their social activities is truly amazing. Providing local honey to the Texas Panhandle feels terrific. It is a very hard place to keep bees, and being able to furnish this rare commodity makes us unique. Texas in general is a great state because of the warm weather and flora. Unfortunately, where we live in the Panhandle is unlike the rest of the state. It is a very volatile environment with unpredictable wind, little moisture, and cold weather. We are just like farmers in that the weather and natural elements affect our honey crops. We are also facing colony collapse disorder. People don’t understand that without bees, we would lose one-third of the world’s crops. Bees are one of the most important insects, if not the most important insect, in the world.”

Anthony Manfre, Oakwood Apiary, Brenham
“I was a hobby beekeeper, not a commercial producer, until my apiary was liquidated last fall and acquired by another beekeeper. I began with three hives in the early 1980s out of interest in the fascinating life and community of honeybee colonies. I’m most excited about the incredible capacity and organization of a functioning honeybee colony as a functioning body to remain principally wild but yet have the capacity to be managed by a beekeeper for the production of honey and pollination services. In this capacity, they become like livestock to the beekeeper, requiring a debt of understanding of the colony’s life cycle, diseases that threaten the colony’s existence, and maintenance management for the best outcome for the colony and the beekeeper. Probably the biggest misperception of honeybees and other pollinators native to this country is the inestimable value of their contribution to the production of food sources through their pollination efforts. There are many food products that would disappear from the grocery shelves without the service of pollinators. In addition, there is a misunderstanding of the necessity of maintaining wild spaces in our landscape of society for the benefit of pollinators.”

Learn how to grow, find, and cook native Texas cactus.

Illustrations by Pavlov Visuals – Ryan Sprague