Mother of the colony
- Lays around 2,000 eggs per day
- Mother of every bee in the hive
- Best replaced every two years to keep egg-laying healthy
- Feeds exclusively on royal jelly
Our Story
Honey from a world the modern hive forgot
French Polynesia is one of the last places on Earth where bees live free of the varroa mite — a living sanctuary, sealed off from honey imports to keep it that way.
Our Mission
The purity of Tahitian honey, just as nature intended
Tahiti Raw Honey began with a simple mission: to bring the purity of Tahitian honey to people who appreciate real, raw, unprocessed sweetness.
In French Polynesia, honey is more than a food — it's a piece of the land. The tropical climate, rare blossoms, and clean environment create one of the most unique honeys in the world. We work closely with small family-owned apiaries in Tahiti who harvest honey the traditional way — with respect, patience, and care for the bees.
Our Promise
No heat. No filtration. No additives. Just pure honey from the hive.
From the heart of Tahiti to your home — a true taste of paradise.
Our Journey
It started on a friend's bee farm
Our journey started during a visit to a friend in beautiful Tahiti. While exploring the islands, we stopped by their bee farm — and that moment changed everything.
We immediately noticed the incredible difference between honeys from America and those from French Polynesia. The aroma, the purity, the flavor profile — it was unlike anything we had ever experienced. In French Polynesia, pesticides are banned, and honey imports have been prohibited for years. Because of this, the islands have become one of the last true sanctuaries for bees — protected from the major pests and diseases that challenge beekeepers around the world. The bees thrive naturally, and the honey they produce carries the pure essence of untouched Polynesian nature.
Standing on that farm, surrounded by healthy hives and pristine landscapes, we realized the diversity and uniqueness of Polynesian honey. It became clear that this wasn't just Tahitian honey — it was a collection of rich flavors from across the islands of French Polynesia.
That's when Tahiti Raw Honey was born. We launched our brand with a simple mission: to bring the authentic, natural flavors of French Polynesian honey to the world. Today, we proudly offer a curated range of honeys, each differentiated by its island of origin — each one a true taste of paradise.
The Sanctuary
One of the last untouched bee ecosystems
French Polynesia remains one of the last places in the world untouched by the varroa destructor — the parasite decimating bee colonies elsewhere — and by the other diseases that compel beekeepers around the world to rely on antibiotic treatments.
Since 2011, importing honey has been prohibited to preserve the bees from disease. The result is a true sanctuary: colonies protected from the major pests known to beekeepers everywhere, where no antibiotic treatments are needed. Every jar carries the untouched flavor of the islands — and an opportunity to share it with the world.
Several analyses are still in progress to reach a better knowledge of honey from French Polynesia; the results obtained make the promotion of the different archipelagos of French Polynesia possible.
A protected archipelago
Bees forage flowers in their natural habitat, with no human intervention in how those flowers grow — and therefore no pesticides, unlike honey produced in industrialized countries. This is what makes the honey naturally pure and organic in spirit.
2011
Honey imports banned
~200t
Honey produced per year
~250
Beekeepers across the fenua
~10,000
Registered hives (2018)
Heritage & Beekeeping
A craft introduced by missionaries
Missionaries introduced the first bee colonies in the late 19th century — originally to produce beeswax. The species used across Tahiti and its islands is Apis mellifera, the result of crossbreeding bees imported from Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.
The beekeeping industry took shape in the 1970s. Today it produces roughly 200 tons of honey a year, with about 250 beekeepers across the territory — the fenua — tending some 10,000 registered hives as of 2018, each home to around 60,000 bees.
Each colony collects a distinct mix of pollen, and that pollen acts as a natural marker — revealing the specific origin of a honey from the flowers the bees foraged. In recent years the association Apis Porinetia has worked to raise awareness among beekeepers. The stakes are high: bees pollinate roughly 80% of all flowering plants, a critical step for plant reproduction and, in turn, for the fruits and vegetables we eat.
Inside the Hive
Three castes, one colony
Every hive is a society in miniature — structured into three roles, each essential to the whole.
Meet our Queen Bee
Every hive has a queen — and in ours, she's the heart of it all. Our Queen Bee leads a happy, healthy colony, creating golden honey that's as pure as it is delicious. Because she's well cared for, our bees are calm, happy, and buzzing with energy — meaning no stings, just the sweetest honey straight from the hive.
20,000–60,000 strong
- Duties change with age
- Cleaner → nurse → storekeeper → forager
- Feed on honey (energy) and pollen (protein & lipids)
- Communicate by sound, scent, and dance
The males
- Develop from unfertilized eggs
- Sole role is to mate with the queen
- Feed on honey and pollen
- Larvae are raised on royal jelly, then honey & pollen
A Scattered Paradise
118 islands, five archipelagos
French Polynesia covers 4,167 km² of land dispersed over 2.5 million km² of ocean, composed of 118 islands distributed among five archipelagos: the Austral Islands, the Society Islands, the Tuamotu Islands, the Gambier Islands, and the Marquesas Islands.
Our Islands
One archipelago, many honeys
Thanks to Polynesia's diverse vegetation, every honey is unique — shaped by the flowers that surround each hive. Six islands fill our collection today; others belong to the wider archipelago we're still bringing to the jar.
Tahiti · MahinaShop
Miel de Tahiti
Raw, lightly filtered plurifloral honey gathered across every flower variety of the islands.
View honey →Marquesas · Hiva OaShop
Miel des Marquises
Pure millefiori from one of the last honeys on Earth without traces of environmental pollution.
View honey →Huahine · l'île jardinShop
Miel de Huahine
A 100% natural, unheated artisanal honey carrying notes of vanilla-flower nectar.
View honey →Tahaa · the vanilla isleShop
Miel de Tahaa
Warm, vanilla-kissed honey from the fragrant vanilla island.
View honey →Tuamotu · the atollsShop
Miel des Tuamotus
Dark, robust honeydew & coconut honey foraged across rare coral atolls.
View honey →Moorea · Paopao BayShop
Miel de Moorea
Light, organic, artisanal honey from the Falcata trees and mountain flowers of Paopao Bay.
View honey →Raiatea · TaputapuateaComing soon
Miel Bio de Raiatea
A Bio Pasifika-certified organic honey, harvested with traditional methods around the sacred Taputapuatea area — a pure, authentic expression of Raiatea's flora.
From the wider archipelagoBora BoraComing soon
Miel de Bora Bora
A rare, locally harvested raw and unpasteurized "thousand flowers" honey, reflecting the rich tropical flora of the island.
From the wider archipelagoAustral Islands · TubuaiComing soon
Miel de Tubuai
From the far south of French Polynesia: rich soil, a temperate climate, and diverse pesticide-free flora — including wild orange trees — give notes of ginger and citrus.
From the wider archipelago
Our Promise
Tested, traceable, and pure
We believe trust matters. That's why every batch of our honey undergoes rigorous lab testing, and we share the lab test results to confirm its purity and quality. Our commitment to providing pesticide-free honey ensures that what's inside each jar is exactly what nature intended — nothing added, nothing removed. Explore our offerings and don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns regarding our raw honey purity.
Our pesticide-free honey comes from a place where nature is still respected. Harvested in small batches from the untouched islands of Tahiti, this Tahitian honey reflects the land, the flowers, and the care taken to protect the bees. Never heated or processed, each jar preserves the raw honey just as it was collected — pure, raw, and full of life.
Taste the islands, one jar at a time
Six single-island harvests from one of the last untouched bee ecosystems on Earth.