If you want to buy raw honey in bulk, it helps to know what you’re actually paying for. Raw honey is honey that has never been heated above 40°C. That single fact is what separates it from most of what sits on a supermarket shelf, and it is the thing to check before you buy in any quantity.
If you are buying 5kg or 19kg at a time, it is worth understanding what you are actually paying for.
What counts as raw honey
Commercial honey is usually pasteurised — heated to around 70°C so it stays liquid and clear on the shelf for longer. It is then filtered through fine mesh to remove pollen, wax particles and the occasional bee leg.
Both steps make the product look better and last longer in a warehouse. Both also strip out most of what makes honey interesting: the pollen, the enzymes and the volatile aromatic compounds that give honey from one region a different character to honey from another.
Raw honey skips both steps. It is extracted from the comb, strained through a coarse sieve to catch wax, and jarred. That is the whole process.
The practical difference is that raw honey looks slightly cloudy, tastes distinctly of wherever it came from, and will crystallise within a few months.
What fynbos honey actually is
Fynbos is the shrubland biome unique to the Western Cape — thousands of flowering plant species, most of which grow nowhere else on earth.
Our hives sit in a remote part of the Breede Valley mountains, away from commercial farming, which keeps exposure to agricultural sprays to a minimum. The bees forage on wild fynbos and eucalyptus.
Because the bees follow whatever is flowering, the honey shifts through the year. Colour, viscosity and flavour all change between harvests. If you buy the same bucket twice, it will not be identical — and that is the point.
What sizes bulk honey comes in
5kg bucket — suits home bakers, mead and beer brewers, and households that get through honey steadily. Considerably cheaper per kilogram than buying small jars.
19kg bucket — the standard commercial size. Bakeries, restaurants, soap and skincare makers, farm stalls, and resellers who repack into their own branded jars.
For anything above 19kg or repeat wholesale orders, it is worth talking to the beekeeper directly rather than ordering online.
How to store it
Keep the bucket sealed, at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
Do not refrigerate honey. Cold accelerates crystallisation dramatically. A cupboard is better than a fridge every time.
Honey is naturally hygroscopic, meaning it pulls moisture from the air. A bucket left open will absorb water and can eventually ferment. Reseal it properly each time.
Stored correctly, honey does not spoil. Sealed jars found in Egyptian tombs were still edible thousands of years later.
Why raw honey crystallises, and why that is good
Crystallisation is not a fault. It is honey doing what honey does.
Honey is a supersaturated sugar solution — more glucose and fructose dissolved in water than would normally stay dissolved. Over time the glucose comes out of solution and forms crystals. Honey with a higher glucose ratio crystallises faster.
Pasteurised honey stays liquid for longer precisely because heating dissolves the crystal seeds. So a jar that stays perfectly clear for two years is telling you something about how it was processed.
To return crystallised honey to liquid, stand the container in warm water — not boiling — and give it time. Never microwave it.
Buying from a beekeeper versus buying from a shop
Buying direct means you can ask where the hives are, what the bees forage on, and when the honey was harvested. Those answers should be specific. If a seller cannot tell you roughly where their honey comes from, that is worth noticing.
It also usually means a better price per kilogram, because there is no distributor margin in between.
Buying from us
Our raw fynbos honey is available in a 5kg bucket and a 19kg bucket, both harvested from our own hives in the Breede Valley.
Honey is seasonal, so bulk sizes are not always in stock. If a size you need is unavailable, get in touch and we will let you know when the next harvest is coming.
WhatsApp us on 072 598 3376 or email info@mountainbee.africa.