Shipping & Orders

Q: Do you ship, and how long does it take?

Yes — we ship our honey and products directly to your door from our farm in Beulah, Michigan. Orders are typically packed and on their way within 2-3 and ship the lowest cost option, either UPS or USPS or Fedex. We strive to ship asap and the arrival depends on which shipper we use and the distance from Beulah, Michigan.  You'll receive a tracking number by email as soon as your order leaves the farm.

Q: Do you ship in hot or cold weather?

Yes, year-round. Honey travels well — heat won't spoil it, and cold at most speeds up natural crystallization, which is harmless and easy to reverse (see the crystallization section above). Beeswax products like lip balm and lotion bars can soften in extreme summer heat, so we recommend bringing packages inside promptly on very hot days.

Q: Do you ship to Alaska, Hawaii, or internationally?

We ship to all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Q: What if my jar arrives damaged?

We pack carefully, but glass and shipping don't always get along. If anything arrives broken or leaking, email us at orders@sleepingbearfarms.com  with a photo of the damage (jar and the shipping box) and your order number, and we'll send a replacement right away — no need to ship anything back (usually).  

Visiting & Where to Buy

Q: Where is Sleeping Bear Farms located? Can I visit?

Our farm and honey house are in Beulah, Michigan, in Benzie County — just down the road from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. All our products are available next door to our production facility at St. Ambrose Cellars, where we not only have all our products, but also our full line of fantastic honey wines (mead) and our restaurant.  You can also find our BeeDazzled body care and candles at 841 S. Pioneer Rd. in Beulah, Michigan in the kiosk next to the winery/brewery. We also have music on weekends all year and 7 days a week in the summer. 

Q: Where can I buy your honey in stores?

Beyond our online store, our honey is carried by most local stores in our area of northern Michigan. We are in most Meijer stores, all the Tom’s Markets, etc.  If you're a store interested in carrying Sleeping Bear Farms honey, see our wholesale section below.

Storing Honey

Q: How should I store honey?

In your pantry or cupboard, at room temperature, with the lid on tight. That's it. Don't refrigerate honey — cold temperatures speed up crystallization without adding any benefit. Kept sealed and dry, honey is happy on the shelf indefinitely.

Q: Does honey expire?

Honey is one of the only foods that essentially never spoils — sealed honey has been found in ancient tombs still perfectly edible. The "best by" date on our jars is there because food labeling rules require one, not because the honey goes bad. Over time raw honey may crystallize or slowly darken and mellow in flavor, but it remains safe to eat for years.

More About Our Products

Q: How hot is Kirk's Hot Honey?

It has real heat — this isn't a mild novelty honey. The habanero, Aleppo, and Birdseye chilis give it a warm, building burn that most hot-food lovers would call it medium hot and balanced by the natural sweetness of our raw star thistle honey. It's bold enough to stand up on pizza and wings, but not so fierce that it hides the honey. If you enjoy sriracha-level heat, you'll be right at home.

Q: What are your honey cremes?

Honey cremes are our whipped raw honey blended with real fruit and flavors — [e.g., lemon, raspberry, cherry, cinnamon — list current flavors]. They start with the same creamed honey described above, so they're thick, smooth, and spreadable, with nothing artificial added. Think of them as creamed honey with a twist — perfect on toast, scones, and biscuits.

Q: Why does tupelo honey cost more than star thistle?

Tupelo is one of the rarest honeys in the world. White tupelo trees bloom for only a couple of weeks each spring, in river swamps along Florida's Apalachicola basin that can only be worked by boat and barge in some stretches. The harvest window is short, the weather doesn't always cooperate, and the crop varies wildly year to year. We have a farm in Chipley, Florida in the panhandle and centrally located to the Tupelo backwaters.

Our star thistle, by contrast, comes from abundant Northern Michigan blooms close to home. 

Both are pure raw honeys — tupelo's price simply reflects how hard it is to make and how little of the real thing exists. That's also why genuine tupelo is so often imitated, and why ours is lab-certified.

Q: Do your bees pollinate local crops?

Yes. we have been actively pollinating cherry and apple orchards in our region of Michigan for decades. In addition, we do send our honeybees to pollinate almond orchards in California.  Honeybees are essential partners to the fruit farms this region is famous for, and keeping our bees healthy keeps that whole system working.

Dietary Questions

Q: Is your honey gluten-free?  Vegan?

Pure honey is naturally gluten-free, and so are our varietal honeys and creamed honeys. Since honey comes from honeybees, it is not considered vegan. 

Q: Is your honey certified kosher?

Plain raw honey is widely accepted as kosher even without certification, since it's a single ingredient with nothing added. Many authorities hold that pure honey needs no hechsher at all.  

Q: Can local raw honey help with seasonal allergies?

You'll hear this claim a lot, so here's our honest answer: many of our customers swear by a daily spoonful of local raw honey during allergy season, and raw honey does retain trace amounts of local pollen. But the scientific evidence is limited, and most seasonal allergies are triggered by wind-borne pollens (like ragweed and grasses) that bees mostly don't collect. We'd never promise honey will cure your allergies. What we can promise is pure, unfiltered raw honey with its natural pollen intact — and a delicious reason to find out what it does for you.

Q: Do we make private label products for other companies? 

We do make private label products with special pricing. Contact orders@sleepingbearfarms.com 

BeeDazzled Body Care & Candles

Q: What is BeeDazzled?

BeeDazzled is our family's line of natural body care and beeswax candles, born from the same hives that make our honey. It includes lip balms, lotion bars, salves, handmade soaps, natural insect repellent, and hand-poured beeswax candles. Every product starts with the gifts of the hive — beeswax, honey, and pollen — combined with pure essential oils and organic or wild-crafted ingredients whenever possible.

Q: What's in your body care products?

Simple, recognizable ingredients. Our salves and balms are built on pure beeswax from our hives and natural plant oils — olive oil, apricot kernel oil, and the like — often infused with herbs and blended with vitamin E. Our Calendula Salve, for example, is just olive and apricot kernel oils infused with organically grown calendula blossoms, pure beeswax, and vitamin E. We scent with pure essential oils, not synthetic fragrance. Full ingredient lists are on every product page.

Q: Are your products safe for babies and sensitive skin?

Our Baby Bee Calendula Diaper Salve is made specifically for babies, with gentle calendula and no harsh ingredients. Many of our soaps and salves are well suited to sensitive skin because we skip synthetic fragrances and detergents. That said, everyone's skin is different — if you or your little one have known sensitivities, check the ingredient list on the product page, and test any new product on a small patch of skin first.

Q: Why beeswax candles instead of regular candles?

Beeswax burns cleaner, longer, and brighter than paraffin, with a subtle natural honey scent — no added fragrance needed. Paraffin is a petroleum by-product; beeswax comes straight from the hive. Our candles are hand-dipped and hand-poured from pure golden wax produced by our own bees, so when you burn one you're enjoying a genuine product of the harvest, not a factory blend.

Q: Do you sell plain beeswax for crafts and candle making?

Yes — we sell blocks of pure, filtered beeswax straight from our hives. It's popular for candle making, wood finishing, lotion and salve making, and countless workshop uses. It smells like honey heaven, too. Order from: https://sleepingbearfarms.com/products/beeswax-bulk-raw-unmolded-per-lb?variant=44263102840969

Q: What is the CBD Relief Salve?

Our BeeDazzled CBD Relief Salve blends [hemp-derived] CBD with our natural beeswax and plant oils into a rich topical salve for tired muscles and everyday aches. It's a topical only — you rub it on, you don't eat it. Ours is 3000 mg per oz. extra strength. 

Wholesale

Q: Do you offer wholesale or bulk pricing?

Yes. We offer case quantities and bulk sizes — including 5-gallon (60 lb) buckets and 1-gallon jugs — for retailers, bakers, brewers, meaderies, and other businesses. We've been supplying bulk honey since 1979, so whether you need a few cases for your shelf or drums for production, we can help. To set up a wholesale account or get current pricing, contact orders@www.sleepingbearfarms.com