Bill’s Bees keeps its hives in Little Tujunga Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains, where Bill Lewis started with ten abandoned colonies on an equestrian ranch in 1994. Clyde Steese joined in 2003 and the two have run it together since. They sell raw honey from their own hives at Los Angeles-area farmers markets and online, along with comb, pollen, beeswax and handmade beeswax goods. Los Angeles Magazine named it the best local honey in Los Angeles in 2008.
How the honey is made: Raw and unfiltered, from the operation’s own colonies. The hives travel each February for commercial pollination — almonds in the Central Valley, then orange and avocado groves — and return to the San Gabriels for the local harvest. The sage, mixed wildflower and California buckwheat varietals are gathered at home; the almond and orange blossom honeys are not.
Listed means this is a vetted local source we have not yet fully verified against our regenerative criteria. Inclusion is never paid and is not an endorsement.