Spring is when Silicon Valley explodes. Wildflowers emerge in the foothills. Fruit trees bloom. Ornamental plants burst into color. For bees, it's the most critical season — the time to build strength for summer. For us, it's harvest time.

The Spring Forage Calendar

March brings mustard blooms and early wildflowers across the Santa Cruz Mountains. April peaks with buckeye, ceanothus, and cherry blossoms. May is the crescendo — lupine, poppy, sage, and stone fruit flowers all at once. By late May, the spring bloom is fading into early summer.

Mike manages 30+ apiaries across the Bay Area, each with a slightly different forage window based on microclimate and elevation. Lower apiaries peak earlier. Higher elevation hives peak later. This natural staggering means we harvest across multiple weeks, not a single day.

What Makes Spring Honey Special

Spring honey is lighter in color and flavor than summer or fall varieties. You taste individual flowers — sage, wildflower, mountain varieties. Each jar is a snapshot of what was blooming when the bees were foraging.

Spring is also when hives are most efficient at producing surplus honey. They've made it through winter. The queen is laying steadily. Foragers are coming back loaded with nectar. The colony is at peak strength.

The Harvest Process

We don't harvest from brood chambers — that's the bees' winter stores. We harvest from honey supers, the boxes above the main hive where bees store surplus. A healthy spring hive can fill 2–3 supers in a good year.

Once frames are removed, we check for capped honey (fully mature). We extract, filter minimally (removing only debris), and bottle quickly. The entire process from hive to jar happens within 24 hours to preserve quality.

Raw and unfiltered is our standard. No heating. No blending. No pasteurization. What comes out of the hive, minus debris, goes into your bottle.

Why This Matters

Commercial honey producers often heat honey to 160°F or higher for faster processing and longer shelf life. They blend lots for consistency. They may add enzymes or other ingredients.

We do none of that. Raw honey crystallizes — that's a sign it's real. Raw honey has pollen — that's micronutrient density. Raw honey tastes like where it came from — that's authenticity.

Spring harvest is happening now. If you've been waiting for the fresh, light, floral varieties, they're coming online this month.

SHOP SPRING HONEY →