Struther’s Honey

I have bought honey at the honey hut for 20+ years and it is high quality. The only place I know of on the honor system. I have given this honey as gifts to others and got them hooked on it. I highly recommend this place.

Everybody knows about Struthers Honey on Route 60… this is a must stop destination for honey lovers of the world. I’m a dyed in the wool local honey shopper so anyone traveling in this part of the state knows to stop and pick me up a ½ gallon of Struthers Honey.
The best honey around… think local… buy local…
p. s. honor system of payment… show your American colors and pay for the product.

Hello my name is Katie and I’m an addict… a Struther’s raw orange blossom honey addict. I am a tea drinker and have come to covet this honey in my morning tea. It pours out the texture of purée and tastes like no other honey I’ve ever tasted, not gamey or strong or lacking depth. My in laws introduced me to it a few years ago and bring me back a gallon (yes they love me that much) each year when they return from Florida. I have the misfortune of living in western Pennsylvania, at least 27 hours by car from my favorite unprocessed raw orange blossom honey and my heart drops a little when I’m forced to turn the gallon bottle upside down to finish it off when I won’t get a new bottle for at least 6 months or more. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was April but geeze it’s only September. Do you think they love me 2 gallons worth? Maybe I’ll see next spring…

You walk into Publix or any other grocery store and hit the produce section… Do you search for the rotten tomatoes, bruised bananas and discolored lettuce? Of course not; you go for the freshest and heartiest produce you can find.
Same thing goes with honey… and there is nothing fresher than straight from the source.
I happened to be traveling from Tampa to South Florida about 10 years ago (a trip I made many times). Bored of the typical Interstate 75 route I decided to take back roads and small town highways; and so glad I did because in the middle of nowheresville was Struther’s Honey. A very unassuming building with exception of «HONEY» posted for every passing car to take notice (and I did).
Being the adventurer I pulled in to check it out; I’m not even the biggest honey fan.
I thought I’d get a lesson into the art of beekeeping. Unfortunately, I got no such education and a tour was out of the question. As a mater of fact, the grounds felt abandoned (although clean) but there was no one around. The front door to Struther’s Honey was partially opened so naturally I entered to be greeted by… no one.
The door opened to a «help yourself» store and everything from small bottles of honey to gallon jugs of honey to bees wax and honey combs was done on the honor system. Basically pick what you want on the shelves, everything is marked with a price and slip your money into the little slot in the wood box in the middle of the room.
The walls are littered with beekeeping information (bees, pollen, royal jelly, honey) and accompanied with photographs to back it all up… this was the closest I was getting to a tour and education; and frankly it was plenty for me.
Over the past 10 years, majority of my road-​trips to Tampa are accompanied with a stop here.
CONFESSION: one time I came in and grabbed a few small bottles (to give to family and friends) and I «oops»; because I only had large bills… do I say «oh well» next time or do I «steal» the honey. Truthfully, anyone can walk in and walk out with anything they want and not pay. I ended up leaving a letter in the money box stating what I took and how much I owed, after all no one was around to ask first. I did mail the cash to them and shockingly received a thank you letter for the integrity.

Located on Hwy 60 in Lake Wales, right between No Where and No Where, is Struthers Honey.
I was driving east, in an otherwise relatively barren area of dry flatlands when I came upon a large structure with the words HONEY painted on the front exposure. I don’t even consider myself a liker of honey… but there was something beckoning about this place.
I pulled off the highway and parked. It was quiet and no one was around. Standing there amongst a few seemingly vacant buildings was a bit unnerving. Had I been in a movie, this would be the moment an out of towner (me) enters the quiet city right before encountering a zombie or some other life changing (and horrible) event.
I sacked up and walked toward the building and opened the door to a little room that seemed to be the spot for honey patronage. There was no one there. Lots of honey and other bee related products but no life forms. I looked around a room decorated with bee memorabilia, newspaper articles, informative tidbits, photos. Interesting. Looking down right as I walked in was a bench-​thing. There was a slot in the bench and writing that would clear up the whole «no life forms» scenario.
Apparently all the products are placed out and you’re to purchase them on an honor system. Putting your money into the aforementioned bench slot, and log what you’ve taken into an inventory book. The book is on a shelf on the right side of the room.
The 4 products on display during my visit were the honey, bees wax, bee pollen and a hard candy made with… you guessed it! Honey. If Im not mistaken, all the honey here is made by bees that feed on orange blossom nectar. I bought a 1 pound honey ($ 5) and a bottle of bee pollen ($ 7).
If you have the misfortune of traveling highway 60 in this region of Lake Wales, I recommend a stop at Struthers Honey. This place is actually pretty cool. Particularly because I made it out alive, and without encountering any zombies, aliens or nuclear infected humans.