Preserves

Honey

Honey is produced throughout the Abruzzo region and may be monofloral or blended. Typical local flora (clover, sainfoin, sunflower, summer savory, acacia) and mixed mountain flowers (in which case the hives are situated at a minimum altitude of 800 metres) are used for production, but flora from other regions is used by “nomadic” Abruzzo beekeepers, who transport their hives to areas where other flowers grow. Honey is a food product that honey- bees make from floral nectar they collect, transform and combine with their own specific substances, then store and leave to mature in honeycombs.

The end food product may be fluid, dense or crystallized. Apart from polyfloral honeys, for which it is difficult to indicate specific and recurrent features, given the wide range of flowers visited, there are several types of monofloral honey: clover honey is light, with a mild aroma and delicate flavour, with obvious crystals, of average texture and dissolves easily; sainfoin honey is typically white to light beige in colour, and with a delicate aroma and flavour of hay, with fine, compact crystals; sunflower honey is yellow with a delicate taste and acquires hard, compact crystallization; lastly, summer savory honey has a characteristic amber colour tinged with green, and strong, lingering aroma and taste, crystallizing to a very fine, soft texture. When honey is mature it is extracted from the honeycombs.

The latter are taken to the workshop and are removed from their frames, placed in the honey extractor and centrifuged. The honey is ejected from the cells and collects on the floor of the extractor before being lightly filtered into a ripener to allow any pieces of wax to be removed. After several days the honey is skimmed to remove a light surface layer that is formed as tiny air bubbles are generated during centrifuging. No other operations are needed for the honey before the crystallization process begins and it should simply be stored in tightly-closed jars in quite cool areas, away from the light to slow down ageing processes.

Beekeeping has been practised in Abruzzo since ancient times, and an Arab geographer writing in the early Middle Ages described the region's inhabitants as keen hunters and honey gatherers. Rationalised beekeeping, on the other hand, based on the use of hives built for inspection, seems to have developed in Abruzzo in the late 1800s. Its importance – also in economic terms – is testified by the activity of the provincial beekeepers’ associations prior to the Second World War and later by the foundation of the Abruzzo Apiarian Cooperative of Lanciano in 1960.

Source: Atlas of Abruzzo’s traditional products – ARSSA - Regional Agency for Abruzzo’s agriculture development