Why Honey Makes the Perfect Gift (and How to Give It This Christmas)
Every December, the same question comes back: what do you give the people who seem to have everything? As beekeepers, we're a little biased, but we think the answer has been sitting in the pantry all along. A jar of raw honey is beautiful, useful, local and full of meaning. It gets opened, shared and finished, instead of ending up at the back of a closet. Here's why honey has been a gift for thousands of years, what it stands for, and how to give it this Christmas, from little stocking stuffers to gifts for a whole team.
Why honey makes such a good gift
- Everyone can use it. Honey goes in tea, on toast, in salad dressings, glazes and holiday baking. It's a gift that becomes part of someone's everyday routine.
- It's local and personal. We extract and jar our honey ourselves, from our hives around Montreal. Giving it means sharing a real taste of Quebec, and of the season it was harvested in.
- It keeps very well. Stored closed in a cupboard, honey stays good for a very long time, so there's no rush to use it. If it crystallizes, that's completely natural (we explain why in Why Natural Honey Crystallizes).
- It suits every budget. A single jar, a gift set, a box for someone special or dozens of little jars for clients: honey works at every level.
- It feels thoughtful. A jar of honey says you chose something real, made by people, not just picked the first thing on a shelf.
The symbolism of honey
Long before sugar was cheap, honey was the sweetness of special occasions, and many cultures gave it a meaning that goes far beyond its taste. When you give honey, you're also giving a wish.
- Sweetness for the year ahead. At Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, apples are dipped in honey to wish everyone a sweet year. In Slovakia, families share Christmas wafers with honey on Christmas Eve for a sweet life ahead. We share more of these customs in Honey at Christmas: 8 Holiday Traditions from Around the World.
- Love and new beginnings. The word "honeymoon" pairs the sweetness of honey with the first month of a marriage, and little jars of honey are a favourite wedding favour to this day.
- Abundance and hard work. A single honey bee makes only a small fraction of a teaspoon of honey in her whole life. Every jar is the work of thousands of bees and countless flowers, which is why honey has long stood for plenty and for effort well rewarded.
- Community. A hive only works because tens of thousands of bees work together. Sharing honey is a way of saying that we're better together, which makes it a lovely gift for a family, a group of friends or a team.
- Lasting things. Jars of honey were placed in ancient Egyptian tombs as offerings, a sign of how precious and enduring honey was considered.
Honey is a lot like wine
If you love wine, you already know how to appreciate honey. Like a good bottle, every jar of raw honey tells the story of a place, a season and the flowers the bees visited. That's what makes it such a personal gift: no two honeys taste quite the same.
Gift idea: treat honey like a wine tasting. Give two or three different honeys together so the person can compare them side by side, or bring a few jars to a holiday party with a cheese board. Honey pairs with cheese the way wine does: a mild honey with fresh cheeses, a bolder one with aged cheddar or blue cheese. Browse our Quebec honey collection to build your own flight.
Our honey bundles and gift sets
Our bundles bring several favourites together, so you get more for less and the gift is ready to give. Here are this season's picks:
$59.99 · free shipping in Canada
Our most complete gift: raw Quebec honey, beeswax balms, goat's milk soap and a beeswax candle in one box.
$24.99 (regular $36.96)
Choose a honey, two beeswax balms and a goat's milk soap.
$21.99
A jar of honey and two little beeswax candles of your choice. A perfect hostess or teacher gift.
$42.99 (regular $46.97)
Three ribbed pillars in pure beeswax, in mixed heights for the mantel or the table.
$19.99 (regular $26.99)
Three tins of our unscented beeswax and honey balm: one to keep, two to give.
See them all in our Bundles & Gift Sets collection. Orders of $75 or more ship free across Canada, and so does the Christmas Hive Gift Box on its own.
Beeswax candles: the hive's other gift
Honey isn't the only treasure a hive gives us. Beeswax has been used for candles for centuries, and for a long time beeswax candles were kept for the most important celebrations, because they were precious and burned with a clean, golden light. In the darkest weeks of the year, a candle is a small symbol of warmth, light and hope, which makes it a natural Christmas gift.
Our candles are hand-poured in pure beeswax by us, the beekeepers based in Montreal. They have a soft natural honey scent with no added fragrance, and they come in shapes made for giving: little Christmas trees, honey bears and bee skeps for the stockings, and ribbed pillars for the table.
Browse every shape in our Beeswax Candles collection, or pair candles with honey in the 2 Candles & Honey Gift. Curious how they're made? Read From Hive to Candle: How We Make Our Beeswax Candles.
Corporate gifts: honey with your company's name on it
Looking for a holiday gift for clients or employees that people will actually use? Little jars of honey make a memorable corporate gift: they're local, they look beautiful with your own label and ribbon, and they carry all the meaning above, a wish for a sweet year ahead and a thank you for working together.
With our Honey Jar Filling Service, you choose the jars and the look, and we fill them with our raw honey. Here's how it works:
- Choose your jar size. From little 2 oz jars, perfect for welcome bags and place settings, up to 212 ml jars for a more generous gift. Order the number of jars you need in that size.
- Source your jars and packaging. Custom labels with your logo, ribbons in your colours, tags with a message: the look is yours. We're happy to suggest suppliers we trust.
- Get the jars to us. Drop them off if you're in Montreal, or have them shipped to us directly from your supplier.
- We fill them. Your jars are filled with our raw honey and ready within 48 hours of reaching us.
- We bring them back. Return delivery is free within 40 km of downtown Montreal. Farther away, we ship them back to you, with the shipping invoiced before the jars leave.
Some ideas: client thank-you gifts in December, employee holiday gifts, conference and event welcome bags, end-of-year team parties, real estate closing gifts or a little jar on every plate at your holiday dinner. The same service makes lovely wedding and event favours all year long.
For a smaller team or a few very special clients, the Christmas Hive Gift Box is a ready-made option. Planning a large order? Write to us at info@mielbrut.com as early as you can, so we can fit your jars in before the holiday rush.
A few tips for giving honey
- Add a little note on how to enjoy it. Whipped honey on warm toast, hot honey on pizza, wildflower honey in tea: a suggestion makes the gift feel even more personal.
- Pair it. Honey goes beautifully with a beeswax candle, a good cheese, a box of tea or a loaf of fresh bread.
- Think of the whole family. If you're giving honey to new parents, remember that honey should never be given to babies under 12 months old.
- Don't worry about crystals. If the jar turns creamy or solid, the honey is still perfectly good. A warm water bath brings it back to liquid.
Frequently asked questions
Why is honey a good Christmas gift?
Honey is useful, keeps very well, suits every budget and carries a long tradition as a symbol of sweetness and good wishes for the year ahead. Raw local honey also gives the gift a personal, homemade feel.
Why does honey taste different from one jar to another?
Like wine, honey takes its flavour from where it comes from: the flowers the bees visited, the soil and weather around the hives, and the season of the harvest. That's why a spring honey, a fall honey and a wildflower honey can taste so different.
Does honey go bad as a gift?
Stored closed at room temperature, away from moisture, honey keeps for a very long time. It may crystallize over time, which is natural and doesn't mean it has spoiled.
Can I order custom honey jars for my company?
Yes. With our Honey Jar Filling Service, you choose the jar size and packaging, such as labels with your logo, and we fill the jars with our raw honey within 48 hours of receiving them. Return delivery is free within 40 km of downtown Montreal.
Which bundle should I choose?
For one special person, the Christmas Hive Gift Box. For a gift under $25, the Build-Your-Own Gift Set or the 2 Candles & Honey Gift. For stockings, the Stocking Stuffer 4-Pack. For someone who loves candles, the Pillar Trio.
Give a little sweetness this year
Whatever you choose, a gift from the hive is a wish for a sweet year ahead. Find more ideas in our Holiday Gift Guide, explore our Quebec honey collection, or come see us in person at one of our Christmas markets. Questions about a gift or a corporate order? Write to us at info@mielbrut.com or on Instagram (@mielbrut_com).
