Where To Buy Raw Honey In Seattle
There is plenty of raw honey to be found in the Seattle area, if you know where to look. Rather unfortunately, it’s harder to get your hands on fresh, local raw honey than it is to find imported honeys from around the world. You need to haunt the farmers markets, since few major stores stock honey from the smaller local apiaries, which by definition have inconsistent product. Pro tip: at the markets, not only the honey sellers have honey; many farms will have bees for pollination and sometimes get leftover honey from it. Look at all the produce tables. You might find something unusual.
- This page will always be a work in progress; please let me know if I missed something or if a listing is out of date.
- Below I use the term “imported” loosely to also include honey from out of state (though I count Oregon apiaries as local).
- For honey produced from hives placed in the city, see Seattle Apiaries.
Location | Local? | Imported? | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Location | Local? | Imported? | Location |
Ballard Farmers Market One of my favorite local apiaries sells here: Brookfield Farm. This apiary is a treasure, offering unusual honeys from around the state. Try them all. But also make sure to ask produce stands if they have honey from pollinating their crops, especially in the summer and fall. | Local | Seattle - Ballard | |
Big John's PFI (Pacific Food Importers) (Rainer Ave.) This place has a few shelves of honey that have been constantly changing since I've been going there. Not all of the honeys are raw like at Chef Shop, so make sure to read the labels. I found some amazing French honeys here, such as a honey from Brittany that smells like apples. Note: they recently relocated from the stadiums area to Rainer Ave. S. | Imported | Seattle - Rainer Ave. S. & Dearborn | |
Broadway Farmers Market (Capitol Hill) There used to be at least two apiaries represented here in the warmer months, including Pixie Honey from Olympia, but lately there haven't been any. One of the farm stands sometimes has blackberry or raspberry honey however. And if you're already in the area, you can go up the street to the shop called Sugarpill where you can often find honey from in-city hives (see the separate listing here). | Local | Seattle - Capitol Hill | |
Central Co-Op (Capitol Hill) Though they don't have a huge honey selection, I've seen jars from the Bellingham area apiary Sunny Honey here. | Local | Imported | Seattle - Capitol Hill |
Central Market This is my favorite supermarket. I go to the one in Shoreline, which has always had quite a few honeys. They have consistently carried an amazing dark honey from Craic Honey Company. Also good are the raw honeys from from Glory Bee (not all are raw, just the ones that say raw, and those are excellent). | Local | Imported | Shoreline |
Chef Shop (Elliott Ave. — lower Queen Anne) This is the best place to find non-local honey in Seattle, and now they even have some good ones from Oregon. You will only find high-quality raw honey here, and I've seen honeys here that I've never found anywhere else in town. Plus there is a honey tasting table in the back with all the honeys available to try. This store is a culinary dreamland. You might want to put on your blinders before entering and head straight to the back, so you don't end up spending your life savings on other things like bitters, vinegars and olive oils... | Local | Imported | Seattle - Queen Anne (lower) |
Coupeville Farmers Market This is on Whidbey Island, just a short ferry away, so I'm including it since you will be able to find some great honeys there, including that of Prairie Mountain Honey Company. | Local | Whidbey Island | |
Dandelion Botanical Company This store sells great honey from Hummingbird - mostly from Oregon. The mint and the pumpkin are especially distinctive. | Local | Imported | Seattle - Ballard |
De Laurenti (downtown) A Seattle institution, this shop at Pike Place Market has many interesting honeys. They are usually priced higher here than elsewhere, but if they are the only one to have it, well... | Imported | Seattle - Downtown | |
Euro Deli This store in Shoreline has "a little bit of each" as the owner says, and that also goes for the honey, all of which are interesting: local choices from Mill Creek Honey and BZ Boss in Carnation, Russian honeys from Bashkirian (Bashkortostan?), and leatherwood honey from Australia (not the same leatherwood from New Zealand you see in those bird-adorned cans). She likes Buckwheat honey - there is one from Russia as well as a local version. 20011 Aurora Ave N. | Local | Imported | Shoreline |
Fremont Sunday Market Shipwreck Honey from West Seattle sells here. | Local | Seattle - Fremont | |
Honey Hole This honey comes from a beekeeper who used to live in Ballard - he moved recently. His hives in Ballard produced consistently interesting honey from all the floral sources in the area. You'll have to follow his Facebook account for updates on honey availability. | Imported | Seattle - Ballard | |
Goodies Mediterranean Market This market has a few imported honeys, such as a Turkish pine honey (doesn't say raw) and also raw honeys from Heritage Honey in California, including avocado honey, which I love. | Imported | Seattle - Lake City | |
International Deli (Bellevue) This store is in a strip mall in Bellevue, but it's not Bellevue inside. It's packed with items from Russia and eastern Europe, and has many shelves of honey. Besides a metric ton of raw honeys from Russia, you'll find the entire line of Airborne brand New Zealand honeys. I can't find a web page for this place, but here is the address: 15015 Main St Ste 110 Bellevue, Washington 98007 MAP | Imported | Bellevue | |
MacPherson's Fruit & Produce (Beacon Hill) I haven't been to MacPherson's yet, but somebody kindly emailed me to say that they are selling honey from the Heavenly Honey Farm in Puyallup, WA (not to be confused with "Honey Heaven" / "Heavenly Honey" distributed by Hummingbird Wholesale in Oregon). I haven't tried this honey either. I guess I need to get over to Beacon Hill. | Local | Seattle - Beacon Hill | |
Magnolia Farmers Market I haven't tried this yet but they list "Cascade Natural Honey". | Local | Seattle - Magnolia | |
Metropolitan Market (Queen Anne) There is a small and oddly eclectic selection of honey here. One time I found an incredible Sourwood honey from Georgia here. | Local | Imported | Seattle - Queen Anne (upper) |
Metropolitan Market (West Seattle) I recently saw one of my favorites for sale here: Craic Honey from Yakima. | Local | Imported | Seattle - West Seattle |
Minglemint Natural Food Store (Vashon Island) This is on Vashon Island, just a short ferry across from West Seattle, so it still counts, and this little store usually has great honeys on the shelf - not many, but good ones. Besides offering the excellent Heavenly Honey brand (distributed by Hummingbird Wholesale in Oregon), Minglemint has lately been offering their own brand sourced from local beekeepers. | Local | Imported | Vashon Island |
Paris-Madrid Grocery (downtown) On Western Ave, this shop has many French and Spanish honeys. | Imported | Seattle - Downtown | |
PCC Natural Markets PCC has an excellent spread of local raw honeys, including Craic Honey (Yakima Valley), Oregon Growers & Shippers Wildflower (Columbia River Gorge), High Country Honey, and Glory Bee (their raw honeys). Besides those, there are a few less-interesting brands from out of state. | Local | Imported | Seattle - various locations |
Phinney Farmers Market Seattle Urban Honey is listed to sell here (also at the University District market). | Local | Seattle - Phinney Ridge | |
Pike Place Market I've seen at least three honey sellers here. Not all are raw. Make sure to ask. Don't miss the Sunny Honey storefront, near the pig and fish-throwers. | Local | Seattle - Downtown | |
Rainbow Natural Remedies Depending on seasonal availability, this store carries honey from Seattle's own Urban Bee Company (who deliver honey here by bicycle). They also carry the brands Moon Valley (Deming WA) and Uncle Harry (Redmond WA - not an apiary itself). | Local | Imported | Seattle - Capitol Hill (15th) |
Shoreline Farmers Market Rainy Day Bees sells here in season (once a month - best to make sure when on their Facebook page) when they have honey from their in-city hives. | Local | Shoreline | |
South Lake Union Saturday Market Shipwreck Honey from West Seattle sells here. | Local | Seattle | |
Sugarpill (Capitol Hill) Only city honey here, or close to it. In the past I've found honey here from Urban Bee Company (not sure if still in business), Ballard Bee Company (out of business), and Rockridge Orchards (still existing but no longer selling honey - you should try their balsamic vinegars though). I don't know what honey they have here now, especially after Covid, but I will try to find out. | Local | Seattle - Capitol Hill | |
Sunny Honey (Pike Place) Anne of Sunny Honey out of Bellingham now has her own store right in the center of Pike Place Market. You can find it just to the left of the fish-throwers near the pig at the entrance. Under her brand she is selling her own honey plus honey from other small producers throughout the state, and their locations are pinned on a map on the wall. Hers is the only storefront devoted solely to local honey that I know of in Washington. | Local | Seattle - Downtown | |
University District Farmers Market You'll find wonderful honey from Seattle Urban Honey, who label their honey with the hive location within Seattle. Don't miss these honeys. Buy them all. Even the light-colored ones will be more interesting than they look. | Local | Seattle - U-District | |
Watson Kennedy Fine Home Unexpectedly, this shop had many good honeys last time I visited, including east coast honeys from Bee Raw. I especially like New York Aster honey, which makes me think "grandma's house" because it smells to me like musty flowers. | Imported | Seattle - Downtown | |
West Seattle Farmers Market No apiary is listed for this market, but ask around at the vegetable sellers, especially Whistling Train and Rockridge Orchards. | Local | Seattle - West Seattle | |
Whole Foods I've found some great honeys at Whole Foods, and they usually have at least one local brand, though they are not likely to have honey from small apairies that can't make enough to provide a year-round supply. | Local | Imported | Seattle - various locations |
Robin David Robin has hives by his house (and a few more outside the city). He keeps bees for fun now, but he used to be a serious bee professional so he knows what he's doing, and you can tell from the honey. You can find out via his Instagram page when he's selling. | Local | Seattle - Lake City |