Every year somebody asks me what to buy a person who has everything. My answer’s always the same. Something real, made nearby, that they’ll actually use up. Honey ticks every box. So here’s what I’d put under the tree, from a stocking filler to something a bit special.

Stocking fillers

Our 60g mini honey jars are made for stockings. Small enough to tuck in the toe, and a proper taste of local honey rather than a novelty. Buy a few and you’ve sorted the teachers, the neighbours and the person at work you drew in Secret Santa.

For children, the honey squeeze bear goes down well. No sticky spoons, and they can do it themselves.

For the foodie

Cut comb honey is the one I’d pick for anyone who loves their food. It’s honeycomb exactly as the bees built it, sealed with wax. Put it on a cheeseboard on Boxing Day with a strong cheddar or a crumbly Wensleydale and watch it disappear.

Chunk honey is a good alternative. A piece of comb in a jar of runny honey, so you get the look of the comb and plenty to drizzle.

For the one who’s always got a cold

Our turmeric, ginger and black pepper honey is a soft set Yorkshire honey with a warming kick. Lovely in a hot lemon drink on a January night, and a bit different from the usual jar.

The classic

You can’t go wrong with a good jar of honey. Our 340g Yorkshire honey is unheated and only gently strained, and every jar has a QR code on the base showing which of our apiaries it came from. It’s a nice thing to point out when you hand it over.

Something they’ll remember

If you’d rather give an experience than a thing, a gift voucher for our beekeeping experience is the one people tell me about years later. They come out to Staincross next summer, suit up and open a hive with me. The voucher arrives by email, so it works for last-minute shoppers too.

Or for someone who loves bees but would rather not get close to them, sponsor a hive. They follow a colony through the year and get honey from it.

Order early

December gets busy, both for us and for the post. If you’re local, you can order online and collect from us in Staincross at a time that suits, which saves on postage and worry.

Have a look through our Yorkshire honey and pick something out. Whoever gets it, I hope they enjoy it.