Honeybees are more important than you think. In Indiana, honeybees help pollinate tomatoes, apples, blueberries and watermelon.

“A third of the food we eat everyday needs pollination, and 80% of that is done by our honeybees,” said the American Honey Queen Mary Reisinger. “We would lose fruits, vegetables and nuts. Over 90 different crops depend upon honeybees for pollination.”

Reisinger used blueberries as an example saying, if a blueberry plant grew its flower and wasn’t pollinated it wouldn’t grow the fruit and would then die and wither.

Honeybees are used by commercial beekeepers to pollinate crops from coast to coast.

Reisinger says the honey honeybees make is also important, and you can use it for more than just your favorite recipe. It can can be used to boost your immune system, and is antibacterial and hygroscopic, meaning it can help clean and heal cuts.

“Honey was the form of currency used in some countries in the past,” She said. “And it was our original sweetener before sugar.”

There are more than 300 unique varieties of honey in the United States, and the color and flavor of honey depends on the flowers honeybees collect nectar from. It is also the only food that never spoils.

If you’re interested in beekeeping, Reisinger said the best way is to find your local beekeeping association because beekeeping changes from state to state. She said beekeeping in Indiana may be different than beekeeping in Texas, where she’s from.

“95-to-97 percent of beekeepers are hobby beekeepers, meaning they just keep 1-to-25 hives.”

Or if you just want to help honeybees you can plant honeybee friendly plants, like sunflowers or snapdragons.