Honey with Propolis: How We Sell Them

If you typed honey with propolis into a search box, you were probably looking for a blend jar. One pot. Two names on the lid. I have looked at those jars the way I used to look for Virginia honey I could trust: hopeful, then frustrated, because a tidy label is not the same thing as an honest retail shelf.

 

We do not make that "blended" jar at Edgewood. Raw Virginia honey lives in its own jars, unfiltered with pollen, wax and maybe some propolis in it - direct from natural processing. Propolis, when you want it alone, lives in its own dropper. A few bottles put them together on purpose, and those bottles are not jars for toast. They are throat sprays and a Throat Coat tincture, with propolis in the lead and honey as the support. That is how we sell them. Not a mix for the grocery store shelf.

 

Honey is food. Propolis is a protective resin.

 

Honey is what we bottle raw and unfiltered, by yard and by season. You taste it. You put it on toast. You stir it into tea. Forest is not a meadow. Spring is not summer. Sourwood is its own special nectar. That is why the jars have names, and why I point you at the "honey collection" for what is actually on the shelf today. Named jars people ask for by place include Raw Forest, Monacan Meadow, Powhatan Springtime, and South BlueRidge Summer, our sourwood. Other jars come and go with the harvest. Trust the collection.

 

Propolis is different work. Bees gather sap from trees and buds, blend it with their enzymes and wax and work it into the hive. We collect it from our boxes in Bremo Bluff and tincture it. Our propolis tincture is propolis only. No honey in that bottle. I would rather you know which gift from the hive you opened than guess at a pretty blend that muddies both.

 

The same honesty we bring to honey origin belongs here. A jar that says local because it was packed somewhere is not the same as a jar that can name the keeper and the nectar. A bottle that says honey with propolis because both words sell is not the same as telling you which product carries which gift, and why.

 

Where they already share a bottle

 

They do share a few bottles. None of them is a spread for toast.

 

Both throat sprays carry propolis and honey. The labels say with Propolis & Honey. Propolis is the hero. Honey is the supporting ingredient. The Warming & Comforting spray is the one people keep on the kitchen shelf when the weather turns. Cooling Mist (the label also says Cooling Relief) is the crisp one people drop in a bag. Same two gifts from the hive. Different feel.

 

Throat Coat is the dropper cousin. Honey and propolis again, with propolis as the hero. A spray is a mist. Throat Coat is the bottle you stand at the counter with when you want the dropper, not the mist. It's great for tired or dry vocal cords.

 

So if your search was really about something delectable to put on your toast, buy a raw honey jar. If you wanted hive propolis alone, buy the tincture. If you wanted a throat spray, pick warming (cinnamon) or cooling (peppermint). Honey also shows up in our elderberry syrup and fire ciders. Those use honey on purpose. They are still not a mix jar meant to stand in for either product.

 

How I would shop it from the counter

 

Start with what you actually want to open tonight. A jar you will eat. A dropper of propolis. Or a spray for the throat shelf. You do not need all three on day one. Online is a convenient door for the consumer. The farm store and the Richmond walk-in are where the questions get answered face to face, the same way we talk about soft-set honey without apologizing for raw honey behaving like raw honey.

 

Order online and ship, or choose farm pickup. If you choose pickup, we will email or text to set the time and look forward to seeing you. Call ahead if you are making a special trip. We are a working farm.

 

Farm store: 3456 James Madison Hwy, Bremo Bluff, VA 23022. Sunday 2 to 5. Monday, Friday, and Saturday 9 to 4. Tuesday through Thursday by appointment. Phone (804) 380-5820.

 

Closer to Richmond? Stony Point walk-in: 9200 Stony Point Parkway Suite 158A. Tuesday through Thursday 10 to 4, or by appointment.

 

Shop the honey collection for the jar. Shop the propolis tincture for the resin alone. Shop a throat spray if that is the bottle you came for. Bring your questions. I want people to know their beekeeper.

 

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

 

Journey with the Bees.