In the quiet hills of Northeast Georgia, where Sourwood trees bloom briefly and bees hum faithfully through the summer heat, Virginia Webb is once again producing what’s been named the best-tasting honey in the world.
Webb, owner of MtnHoney in Clarkesville, recently took home the Grand Prize in the International Black Jar Honey Tasting Contest. Hosted by the Center for Honeybee Research, this prestigious event, now in its 14th year, judges thousands of entries from around the world based on one simple but powerful criterion: taste.
It’s the second time Webb has claimed the top spot.
While the Black Jar Contest focuses solely on taste, Webb’s honey has also earned global recognition at the World Honey Show, a broader international competition hosted by the World Beekeeping Federation, also known as Apimondia. There, she has won five gold medals over the years: in Ireland (2005), France (2009), Ukraine (2013), South Korea (2015), and Turkey (2022), each time representing not just Georgia but excellence on the world stage.
From hive to jar
The prestigious honors Webb has received are the result of years of training and hard work.
From the hives that dot the landscape around her home in the Blue Ridge foothills to the honey house where she harvests the golden goodness, she orchestrates each step of the carefully curated honey-gathering process.
Bees fill the hive’s upper boxes—called supers—with surplus honey and, with care, Webb removes each wooden frame. She and her helpers scrape the wax caps before placing the honeycomb in a centrifuge to extract the honey.
An early start
Virginia’s journey into beekeeping started young. “I received my first hive as a birthday gift from my father when I was six years old,” she recalled. Her father, Joe Stephens, sparked a lifelong passion that would eventually become a global legacy.
From winning Tennessee’s first 4-H state beekeeping championship to serving as the Tennessee State Honey Queen, Virginia’s early years were steeped in bees, family, and purpose.
Today, MtnHoney is a thriving operation that produces raw, unfiltered, and never-heated honey. “That’s what sets us apart,” she explained. “Heating honey destroys the enzymes and antimicrobial properties. Ours is straight from the hive, just the way nature intended.”
More than a natural sweetener
Webb’s Sourwood honey is prized for more than its flavor. Local raw honey like hers has been shown to help ease allergies, support the immune system, and aid digestion.
“People say it helps them feel better because it’s made from what’s blooming around them,” she said. “What’s in the air is what’s in the jar.”
That rare flavor starts with the Sourwood tree—a native species with a short blooming season and a light, buttery taste.
“You don’t just stumble into good Sourwood honey,” she said. “You plan for it, you pray for it, and you thank the bees when they deliver.”
A legacy built on love
Virginia and her late husband Carl built a commercial beekeeping legacy that included more than 400 colonies and a certified Russian queen bee yard. Today, she carries that legacy forward with precision, passion, and purpose.
Webb is the only certified Russian queen breeder in Georgia, and the only person in the U.S. to hold master beekeeper certifications from Georgia, Florida, and the Eastern Apiculture Society. She serves on national beekeeping boards and teaches beekeepers around the world, from the U.S. to Europe to the Caribbean, through partnerships that include the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
She’s also a tireless advocate for bee education, often speaking at schools, churches, and civic groups. “The more people know about bees, the better chance we have of protecting them,” she said. “Pollinators are responsible for a third of the food we eat. This isn’t just about honey—it’s about survival.”
Sharing her passion and knowledge
Webb spent more than two decades teaching beekeeping at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Cherokee County, North Carolina. Newly retired, Webb’s colleagues said she shared not only her expertise in honeybee biology and hive management but also her passion for mentoring others.
“Virginia communicated her love of honeybees with everyone she met at the Folk School and shared a lot of wisdom, honey, and beeswax!” said Karen Hurtubise, creative advisor for the Folk School’s gardening and nature studies. “She has helped set up a path for fantastic teachers and beekeeping knowledge to keep going for the next 100 years.”
Through hands-on instruction, Webb “demystified the complexities of keeping healthy hives, producing honey, and supporting pollinator health,” a spokesperson for the school said.
Bonded over their East Tennessee roots, Hurtubise said Webb not only inspired students, but also her.
“Virginia taught me to cherish honeybees and the sweetness of life and friendship. She believes everything is going to be all right. And sometimes it’s hard work, but she models we don’t give up because something is hard. Keep going.”
What makes it golden
And keep going, she has. Even after losing her husband to cancer, Webb has worked hard to keep their life’s work and legacy alive. For the past five years, MtnHoney has been recognized as a finalist for the Good Food Award, honoring sustainable American food producers.
Webb said it’s about “honoring” the bees, the process, and the purpose behind it all. Surrounded by the tools of her trade and the hum of her six million-strong workforce, she smiled and said, “I just love it. I love what I do, and I love sharing it with people.”
Her honey may have taken top honors around the world, but it’s the passion, the legacy, and the love that make it golden.
To taste award-winning honey or learn more, visit mtnhoney.com or stop by her roadside stand at 349 Gastley Road in Clarkesville, Georgia.
