When we say our honey is raw, we mean a few things.

First and foremost is that it has not been pasteurised or fine filtered. We want the honey in our jars to be just as natural as it is when the bees produce it in their hives. Pasteurisation is done using high temperatures (at least 63 degrees C), and fine-filtering removes much of the pollen and other small bits naturally found in honey. These processes significantly damage the flavour and beneficial properties of the honey, and we want to make sure our products are as healthy, natural, and tasty as possible. Any honey you see without the word 'raw' on the label will have been processed in these ways and possibly others.

We also only use unblended honey from individual beekeepers.

No! Honey never expires or goes off so long as it is kept in its container with the lid on (this prevents too much moisture from getting in, which may allow the yeasts in the honey to begin fermentation). It is unique amongst foods in this ability to stay good forever. Honey from hundreds and even thousands of years ago has been recovered from archeological sites, and it is still perfectly fine to eat.

All honeys are required to have a Best Before End (different from expiry) date, but this date is mostly to signify how long the beekeepers think it will be before the honeys will almost certainly be fully crystalised (some will crystalise far more quickly of course).

Most of our honeys come from various regions of Spain, which has lots of natural, wild areas with little human interference and a perfect climate for honeybees. We also carry honey from Greece and Bulgaria, both of which have long, respected honey traditions. Additionally, we sometimes have honeys from Portugal, France, Italy, Australia, and here in the UK. We are always looking for new supplies, though, so this list may change in the future.

We love honey here in the UK, and people consume far more honey than is produced locally! This makes the supply we can access quite small most of the time, which causes us a few added difficulties. The UK also only produces a few varieties due to the mostly mixed environment, with very few areas in which there are large expanses where single types of nectar-producing plants dominate. Because of these reasons, the UK honey supply is often too limited for our shop. Additionally, because the UK tends to have quite a lot of conventional agriculture and other built up areas, there are very few places where we would trust the honey not to be contaminated at least at a low level by pesticides or pollution. This affects the bees and the honey.

Please get in touch with us at info@therawhoneyshop.com or +44 1273 682 109, and we will do our best to assist. Let us know exactly what the issue is, and we will come back to you as soon as possible.

If you discover your jar has broken in transit (unfortunately, it does happen on rare occasions no matter how well we protect everything), please do be careful of any broken glass. We would recommend handling the broken jar as little as possible and wearing gloves or taking other protective measures.

Photos are needed for refunds or replacements, so if you are keen to get rid of a broken jar of honey (they can be quite a mess), please take a couple of photographs for us first.

We’re currently using foam peanuts made from potato starch that are biodegradable and completely dissolve when placed in water. Sometimes we do have to use green recycled polystyrene and some bubble wrap. We avoid these whenever possible but sometimes orders do require extra protection. Obviously we always want to ensure your order arrives without any damage because every broken jar wastes the work of thousands of honeybees!