National Honey Month
Posted on September 23 2026
September is National Honey Month.
Honey bees and cotton plants can be mutually beneficial.
Cotton blooms in mid-to-late summer when many other native wildflowers have faded, serving as a valuable nectar food source when most other plants are scarce.
Cotton plants secrete sweet nectar both inside their flowers and extra nectar on the leaves and stems. Honey bees frequent these sites because of this. Under the right conditions, honey bees can produce a surplus of pleasant, light-colored cotton honey.
Cotton is self-fertile and does not require insects for pollinations; however, honey bee visits cross-pollinate the flowers enough to increase overall fiber production, seed count, and boll weight by roughly 10% to 20%.
Sustainable fashion prioritizes sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices for natural fibers like cotton, as well as for the crops in our food supply.
Honey bees and other pollinators rely on practices which include pesticide free crops, rotating crops and using cover crops. These create healthy habitats and diverse foraging sources for honey bees and other pollinators who are essential to our environment.
Use September to share information about how sustainably grown textile choices in your wardrobe impact honey bees and other pollinators in our local ecosystems and world environment.
SHOP our Certified Organic Cotton T Shirts to support Honey Bees and Beekeepers
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Resources
-Cotton and Honeybees: A Beneficial Partnership for SC Growers – Sumter Bee Company
-The Importance of Pollinators | USDA
