Raw Wildflower Honey

This is the honey the hives make when we leave them to it. Our bees work the clover, goldenrod and wild aster along the Lake Erie shore, and whatever is blooming that month ends up in the bottle.

We never heat it and we never fine-filter it. That means the pollen, the enzymes and the faint cloudiness all stay where they belong. It also means the color shifts through the year — pale and grassy in June, deep amber by September.

If it crystallizes on your shelf, nothing has gone wrong. That is raw honey behaving normally. Stand the bottle in warm water and it comes straight back.