It started with two hives and a backyard.
Castro Honey began the same way Castro Canes did — by hand, close to home, without shortcuts. What started as a couple of hives behind the house has grown into a small, carefully tended apiary, still run entirely by Thomas and Kari.
Every batch is seasonal, small, and shaped by whatever the bees found blooming nearby that month — which is exactly why no two jars taste quite the same.
Five steps, one small apiary.
Nothing here is mass-produced — every jar passes through the same hands, from the hive to the label.
Forage
Our hives range across the Rockaway Peninsula — from Jamaica Bay to Breezy Point — working wildflowers within about an 8-mile radius.
image on hand
Nectar in, honey forms
Back at the hive, the colony works the nectar down, fanning it until the moisture is right and the flavor concentrates.
footage on handCapped & harvested
Once a frame is capped with wax, it's ready. The cappings are sliced away and the comb comes out gently, one frame at a time.
footage on handExtracted
Uncapped frames go into the extractor and are spun down by hand until the honey runs clear.
footage on handBottled
Straight from the extractor into the jar — small batches, by hand, straight from the hive to the label.
footage on handThomas & Kari.
“Every jar begins with healthy colonies, careful observation, and respect for the bees.”
Nothing added. Nothing taken away.
Raw & Unfiltered
Nothing heated, nothing stripped out.
Small-Batch Harvested
Extracted in limited runs, never mass-produced.
Seasonal Wildflower Character
Color and flavor shift with what's blooming.
Responsibly Managed Hives
Healthy colonies come first, every time.
Bottled with Care
Hand-poured and labeled, batch by batch.
Color, aroma, and flavor vary naturally by season and forage — that variation is part of what raw honey is.
Everything the bees make possible.
Beyond the honey — small batches of soap and surf wax, made by hand from the same hives.
Honey Soap
4oz bar
Handmade by Kari with real honey and beeswax — gentle, moisturizing, and subtly sweet.
Castro Surf Wax
2.5oz bar
Hand-poured with beeswax and honey for grip that holds up, session after session.
Taste the harvest.
Raw Wildflower Honey
8oz jar
Floral, deep, warm, and lightly spiced.
Raw Wildflower Honey
16oz jar
Same small-batch honey — the size for the household that goes through it fast.
Taste the harvest.
Raw wildflower honey, gathered by the bees and bottled by Castro Honey.
Shop the Latest Batch