Over Labor Day weekend, while we were standing around the grill arguing about who makes the best brat, someone brought up the real star of the party: the bees. I don't know about you, but this summer in Chicagoland, they've been everywhere. Swarming around the soda cans, dive-bombing the fruit salad... basically acting like they owned the place.

So why do they seem extra aggressive in September? Turns out, it's not just in our heads. By the time late summer rolls around, flowers are drying up, food sources get scarce, and the bees are basically hangry. Their colonies are also bigger now, so you've got more bees fighting over less food. On top of that, most worker bees are near the end of their short little lives, so they're a bit cranky anyway. Add it all up, and suddenly your Coke can looks like a five-star buffet.

Of course, once the topic of bees came up, we slid right into talking about honey - because what else are you gonna do while you're waiting for the burgers to come off the grill? And let me tell you, the random bee-and-honey trivia people started tossing out was wild.

First off, did you know honey never goes bad? Like, ever. Archaeologists have found honey in Egyptian tombs that's thousands of years old and still perfectly edible. Imagine cracking open a jar that old and drizzling it on your toast.

Here's another one: to make just one pound of honey, bees have to visit about two million flowers. Yeah - million! So when you casually squeeze honey into your tea, just remember a whole army of bees basically had to work overtime to make that possible.

And get this, a single bee only makes about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime. That's it! Which is why it's so crazy how much honey a whole hive can crank out when they work together. Talk about teamwork goals.

Oh, and honey isn't just for toast and tea. Back in the day, people actually used it on cuts and wounds because it's naturally antibacterial. Think of it as the original first-aid ointment, sweet and useful at the same time.

By the time we wrapped up our little "bee talk" at the BBQ, I think we all had a little more respect for those buzzing pests flying around our plates. Sure, they can be annoying when they won't leave your soda alone, but without them, we wouldn't have honey—or half the food we eat, really.

So next time a bee crashes your cookout, maybe give it a little grace. It's not trying to ruin your day - it's just looking for a snack. Honestly, same.

Until next time...
- Randy at Random Facts
Always Random. Never Boring