If you’ve been following Paleo Treats you know we’re picky about our ingredients. I wanted to take a minute and give an example of just how picky we can be, so let’s talk about our San Diego local honey.
We’ve gone through a bunch of different honey suppliers over the years, from huge outfits based out of Australia to what I call “honey drug deals”, where you meet in a parking lot and hand over cash for a bucket of honey.
Honey is an important part of Paleo Treats. It’s the only sweetener we use for the Treats, and raw honey is the only sweetener we consider to be strictly Paleo.
Honey is also one of the most variable ingredients out there. Honey from wildflowers is different than honey from mesquite, or sage, or lavender, and you can definitely taste the difference.
We are super psyched to have found a rad supplier for raw honey who is local to San Diego, can fulfill our needs (up to 120 lbs a week!) and is just as passionate about high quality local honey as we are.
Where can you buy local honey? Enter Mikolich Honey (yay!) They are long time beekeepers based out of San Diego County, which, by the way, has more farms than any other county in America (5,000!)
Most of those farms are between 1-9 acres. With a wide variety of microclimates San Diego is basically the epicenter of small farming and food to table dining in America. With all the different crops we San Diegans can grow, there are a wide variety of sources for honey!
What does that mean for you, an enjoyer of Paleo Treats? It means all the honey you get from us is raw, local to San Diego, not blended, flash heated, pasteurized, or fine filtered.
Why is that important? Many folks believe that using raw local honey is an excellent prophylactic against allergies. Untreated honey has none of the goodness removed.
This year the Mikolich beekeeping family is expecting an excellent honey flow due to all the rain we’ve gotten, and we’re psyched to share that abundance and glorious local taste with you.
Is this organic honey? Organic honey is hard; bees can fly out to a 3 mile radius from the hive, and there's no guarantee that the neighbors aren't spraying. This means that most of the certified organic honey comes from places as far away as Brazil, deep in the rainforest. Mikolich has decided to focus on local raw honey that is the highest quality rather than trying to fence in the bees. :)
What should I look for with local honey? The most important things to look for with local honey is one, making sure the bees are not being sprayed, as spraying negatively impacts colony health and they die. Two, not using chemical treatments for mites (antibiotics) that can end up in the honey. Mikolich uses no chemical treatments, it's all old school hard work and serious bee knowledge!
Where does this honey come from? This local wildflower honey comes from San Diego native floral sources which only grow seasonally. These areas are really untouched by humans, making Mikolich honey about as pure as you can get and still be in modern civilization.
How much does honey weigh? Honey is about 1.5 times as heavy as water; a gallon weighs about 12 lbs!
Check out the picture with Nik holding a 60 lb bucket of honey with Erika from Mikolich in the Paleo Treats office in Normal Heights.
Erika’s Dad is the beekeeper and she does deliveries, marketing, and helps run the biz. Pretty cool, eh?
Whether you're looking for a small honey bear for the table or you're after bulk honey, hit us up and we'll get you taken care of with the best honey money can buy!
Honey on, homies!