Honey

What is in it

Honey. That is the entire list. It is strained through a coarse mesh to take out wax and the occasional bee, and then it goes in the jar. It is not heated, not pasteurised and not fine filtered, because all three of those things are done to make honey stay liquid and clear on a shelf rather than to make it better.

Why it changes every year

It is a mixed spring honey from whatever flowered between February and June. In a wet spring there is more wildflower in it and it comes out lighter and more floral. In a dry spring the citrus and the rosemary carry it and it is darker and stronger. We do not blend across years to smooth that out, so the label says the year and you should expect the next one to taste different.

The 2026 jars are from a good spring. There was proper winter rain, the wildflowers lasted, and it is lighter than the last batch we had.

It will crystallise

Usually within four to eight months, and faster if your kitchen is cold. That is normal in raw unfiltered honey and it is a sign it has not been heat treated. It is not spoiled and you have not done anything wrong. Stand the jar in a bowl of warm, not boiling, water for twenty minutes and it will go clear again. Doing that repeatedly will gradually flatten the flavour, so it is better to just eat it crystallised if you do not mind the texture.

What it is good with

On almond butter on toast.
With a sharp cheese and a couple of dried figs.
Stirred into yoghurt, or into a hot lemon and water in winter.
Not in something you are going to boil hard. There is no point paying for raw honey and then cooking it.

The important warning

Raw honey is not suitable for children under twelve months old. This applies to all raw honey and is about the small risk of infant botulism. It is on the jar as well as on this page.

How to order

There is no checkout on this site. Send us an email saying what you would like and how many, and we will reply with a total including postage and how to pay. Orders go out on Tuesdays.

Email hello@nossoparaiso.com, or use the form on the contact page if that is easier.

Minimum order is six jars or bottles, mixed however you like. Postage within mainland Portugal is 6.50 euros for up to six, 9.00 euros for up to twelve. Mainland EU is 18.00 euros for up to six and 26.00 for up to twelve. We do not ship outside the EU. Full detail is on the questions page.

How much there is, and the year we had none

Nine hives give us somewhere between 70 and 130 kilos in a normal year, which is 200 to 370 jars. In 2025 we took nothing at all. The spring was dry, there was not enough in the hives to spare, and taking it would have meant feeding the colonies sugar in August to make up for it. So there was no honey for a year and we said so.

In June 2026 we took 112 kilos and it is in the pantry now. More about the hives and the year they work through is on the hives page and in the note about the bee year.