Vermont-based gin brand Barr Hill will be hosting its third annual Bee’s Knees Week. From Sept. 23 until Sept. 29, participating bars and restaurants will collect $1 from every Barr Hill Bee’s Knees cocktail sold. Barr Hill owner Caledonia Spirits will donate those funds to nonprofits that support the mission to save bees and other vital pollinators.  

The campaign has three key objectives:

• Celebrating the classic Bee’s Knees cocktail that uses gin, fresh lemon juice, and raw honey syrup and garnished with a lemon twist.

• Raising awareness of the important role bees and other pollinators play in our environment.

• Creating a community of bars and restaurants that come together to work towards the goal of saving the bees.

Barr uses raw northern honey as the backbone of every bottle it produces, so bees are crucial to the distilling process for Barr Hill. Since Barr Hill launched the Bees Knees Week campaign in 2017, participants have collectively donated $31,000 to nonprofit bee and pollinator organizations.

Here’s a full list of 2019 participating venues, and a recipe for the classic cocktail, whose name was slang for “the best” in the Prohibition-era.

The Bee’s Knees
2 oz. Barr Hill gin
¾ oz. Fresh lemon juice
¾ oz. Raw honey syrup (2:1)

Combine ingredients in a mixing tin. Add ice, shake, then double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a lemon twist garnish.