The story behind Kostas' Bioactive Forest Honey - Active 23.5

Into the Forest with Kostas – To The Source Of His Bioactive Honey

Two years back, in June, I was on a summer raw honey discovery trip with Asterios (our man on the ground in Greece).

On the day he introduced me to Kostas, Asterios picked me up from my hotel in Larissa in central Greece.

Then on our way to the mountains we collected Kostas and Asterios’ friend Giannis (who packs a lot of the Greek honey for us into jars).

You are never far from mountains in mainland Greece and soon we were on a mountain road, waiting for a herd of goats to get off the road, which happened very slowly!

The road led to a Natura 2000 reserve on Mount Kissavos.

We were high up – over 1000 metres – and were driving right into a thick forest of Oak, Chestnut and Beech trees.

Then something rather wonderful happened on the way to the hives.

Suddenly Asterios, who was driving, pulled up. A 'sounder' of wild pigs were spilling out onto the forest track – mothers and piglets.

We all got out of the car to watch them. At first, I was nervous as mothers have a reputation for attacking people when they have piglets.

But no, these were very friendly pigs, they came right up to me and started sniffing my feet!

Turns out that because this is a Natura 2000 reserve, no hunting is allowed. So the pigs are free of fear and genuinely friendly, possibly in the hope that passing humans might have some nice titbits for them!

Anyway, that’s an aside – but it was quite a heartwarming experience and gives you some context as to the nature of the wilderness place where Kostas has his hives.

Soon we were at the hives, nestled deep in the forest, the richness of the undergrowth and the vibrant life around us was evident – right next to me some termites were burrowing into a branch of an old Oak tree.

I could literally feel the forest pulsating with life.

I watched the bees as they collected nectar from the Chestnut, which was just coming into flower.

The forest also contained herbs like Wild Vetch and Oregano, known for their health benefits, which the bees were also feeding on.

Giannis explained to me about the role that Trefoil plays for bees, as you can see in the video.

(Wild Vetch is an herb that is used in many ways, including for its antibacterial properties.)

I think it is the mixture of the Oak, Chestnut, a little Beech plus these herbs that makes the honey so potent – and so very bioactive.

This forest, vast and untouched, is a haven for rare birds, animals and plants.

You can be sure that there are no herbicides, pesticides or fungicides – ensuring the purity and natural strength of the honey.

This batch of Kostas' Bioactive Honey is truly potent as I discovered after the results came back from the lab.

The certificate showed it was Active 23.5, which makes it our most potent forest honey.

Eager to share this with you I managed to secure 296 jars – all that Kostas had left.

Please note, once these are gone, that will be it – the last of this super potent batch.

You can read more about the honey and order a jar here:

Kostas' Bioactive Forest Honey – Active 23.5 – is Back

Tim (Owner, Raw Honey Shop)