Since 1892
Four Generations of
Northern California Honey
We keep bees in the coastal ranges and Sierra foothills, harvest by hand, and jar everything raw. No additives, no blending, no shortcuts.
How We Got Here
Our family has kept bees in Northern California since 1892 — four generations of hands-on beekeeping. NorCal Nectar launched in 2001 to bring that heritage directly to your table.
What started as a small family operation with 20 hives has grown into a network of sustainable apiaries across the region. The methods haven't changed much. We still pull frames by hand, extract at low temperatures, and filter just enough to remove wax — nothing else.
Today we manage over 500 hives across pristine locations from the Mendocino coast to the Sierra foothills. Each site produces distinct flavor profiles shaped by the wildflowers, soil, and microclimate around it. That's terroir, and it's why no two harvests taste the same.
What Drives Us
Most commercial honey is ultrafiltered, pasteurized, and blended from multiple countries before it reaches a shelf. The process strips out pollen, enzymes, and everything that makes honey worth eating. We do the opposite.
Every jar we sell is single-origin, raw, and traceable to a specific apiary in Northern California. We keep our bees healthy without synthetic chemicals, rotate hive locations to follow natural bloom cycles, and never harvest more than the colony can spare. It's slower and more expensive. It's also the only way to get honey that actually tastes like the place it came from.
From the Apiary
See Our Bees in Action
A look inside our apiaries — hive inspections, honey extraction, and the day-to-day work of sustainable beekeeping.
How We Take Care of the Land
Healthy bees start with healthy land. We rotate our hives across chemical-free pastures and plant native wildflower corridors to support year-round forage. Our extraction facility runs on solar, and we ship in recyclable glass and compostable packaging.
We don't use synthetic miticides or antibiotics in our hives. Integrated pest management, strong genetics, and careful hive placement do the work instead. It's not a marketing angle — it's the only approach that keeps colonies productive season after season.
Daniel Reed
Head Beekeeper & Founder
Fourth-generation beekeeper managing 500+ hives across Northern California's coastal ranges and Sierra foothills. Daniel oversees every harvest and personally approves each batch before it ships.
Read his full storyTaste the Difference
Raw, single-origin honey from Northern California — shipped direct from the apiary.