Bee Raw Honey is a Brooklyn, New York-based specialty honey brand founded by Zeke Freeman in 2005, known for its single-varietal, raw, unfiltered honeys sourced from American family-owned apiaries across the country. The brand gained wide recognition through features in Oprah, The New York Times, Food & Wine, and Martha Stewart Living, and won a Sofi Silver Trophy in 2006 for Outstanding New Product.

The Beekeeper's Story

Bee Raw was founded in 2005 when Zeke Freeman, who grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and trained in culinary arts in Montana and France, acquired majority ownership of Beehive Bee Products, Inc. while working as a buyer for Dean & DeLuca in New York City. He relaunched it as Bee Raw Honey, repackaging the honeys in clear retro-inspired glass jars and growing it into a nationally celebrated specialty food brand. Freeman operated the business as an omnichannel retail company including an ecommerce store and a retail shop at Industry City in Brooklyn. The business was sold to a competitor in 2020. Bee Raw championed American family-run apiaries, committed 1% of profits to the Bee Raw Save the Bees Fund, and Freeman also started the Bee Raw Foundation in 2013 to help protect endangered bees from Colony Collapse Disorder.