Honey is a powerful expression of the landscape. Botany enthusiasts (except for vegans) usually love this sticky, very sweet, aromatic substance made by bees (Apis mellifica) from the nectar of flowers that they deposit in the honeycomb to feed their young.
The counties of Girona are honey country, with a group of beekeepers who travel up and down the land with their hives to make the most of all the blooms, from the coast to the high mountains. There are light honeys, dark honeys, yellow, brown and grey honeys. There are heather, arbutus, chestnut, oak and rosemary honeys. Mixed-flower honey varies from one place to another and they have a different colour, flavour and aroma, depending on each area and beekeeper, who will move the hives at the right time at their discretion, aware that the bees suck all the nectar that they can, without discrimination. And there are also mountain honeys and lowland honeys. Honeys from dry places and honeys from areas with generous rainfall. There are botanical garden honeys, urban honeys and plantation honeys.
Honey is used by those who are big fans of plants to sweeten their infusions. It is used in the kitchen for traditional dishes, such as cod with honey; to sweeten soft cheeses, to make cakes or to eat with toasted bread. It’s honey!
Honey with the 2023-2024 Girona Excel·lent seal
Albera mountain honey
Dolça Abella is a small family beekeeping company that lives among bees. They are producers of honey, pollen, propolis and beeswax, and have their workroom and shop in Crespià, although they move following the optimal flowering times of the different species of honey interest. Produced in summer in the bee fields of the Albera Natural Area, this is a multi-floral mountain honey from the Pyrenees, with a predominant note of chestnut. It is very balanced, with bitter and sweet nuances that are reminiscent of the undergrowth.
Company: Dolça Abella, SC
Mixed-flower honey
Abellaires Empordanesos, a company in Garriguella in the county of Alt Empordà, was created in 1983 and specialises in the production, packaging and marketing of honey and pollen, both from its own harvest and from other beekeepers. Defined as the honey of a thousand spring flowers, rich in brassicas and legumes, it has an intense taste and is sweet and persistent on the palate This honey has been collected manually by different beekeepers around the Alt Empordà region.
Company: SAT Abellaires Empordanesos 12 CAT
Heather honey
Heather honey is one of the most sought-after and valued honeys for the balance it offers between sweet and bitter tones. It is amber in colour, creamy, extraordinarily aromatic and floral, and on the palate has the essence of caramel. Abellaires Empordanesos extract the honey manually from the hives and filter it to extract small impurities, without needing any other processing.
Company: SAT Abellaires Empordanesos 12 CAT
Organic honey from Cap de Creus Natural Park
For some years now, Abellaires Empordanesos have also been producing organically certified honey from parks and natural areas in the region. This particular honey has been obtained from their organic beehives, located in the Cap de Creus Natural Park. In this location, covered with Mediterranean maquis, with little rainfall, punished by storms at sea and by the tramuntana north wind, there is a special flora where lavender, rosemary, heather and pink rock roses predominate.
Company: SAT Abellaires Empordanesos 12 CAT
Lavender Honeycomb
Honeycomb is attractive and intriguing. This honeycomb comes from Dolça Abella’s bees in Cap de Creus, harvested when the honey reaches its optimum point so it retains all the aromas and the nutritional, medicinal and flavour properties. It is a single-flower spring honey made from lavender (Lavandula stoechas), with a mild floral aroma, persistent high sweetness and a touch of acidity. French lavender, also known as tomanyí, is one of the characteristic species of Cap de Creus flora and reaches its peak in early spring when the park is covered with the purple patches of its blooms.
Company: Dolça Abella, SC