Abruzzo – ‘Il miele dell’Abruzzo’
Its western border is less than 50 miles due east of Rome. Comprised of the rugged Majella Mountains, the Gran Sasso d’Italia (the great stone of Italy)—the highest peak in the Appenines, Abruzzo national parks and ancient medieval villages. It is a region of large parks, a rich network of nature reserves; a destination for nature lovers. It is rarely visited by tourists which nevertheless offers a rich repertoire of robust mountain dishes and an abundance of seafood specialties. It has an ancient tradition of beekeeping, producing up to 15% of all honey in Italy, rare honeys of note include the Savory honey, Sideritis honey and Mullein or Verbasco honey. For the food lover there is a unique event, the Panarda, a gastronomic rite offering up to 50 courses.
Home to the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, one of the largest protected areas in Europe, it covers 370,000 acres (150K hectares) and carries with it a rich tradition of agriculture and local products such as saffron, beans, cicerchie (wild chickpeas) and the legumes of L’Aquila area, marroni chestnuts and farro medio (spelt) from Laga, meat, ventricine (pork product), cheese, honey, and other niche products.
Honey Cities:
Ortona dei Marsi (L’Aquila)
Roccascalegna (Chieti)
City of Tornareccio, Chieti (CH), Italy
- Forest Honeydew – ‘Miele di bosco’ (from Metcalfa pruinosa)
- Horehound – ‘Miele di marrubio’ (Marrubium vulgare L.)
- Mullein (aka Great Mullein) – ‘Miele di verbasco’ (Verbascum spp.)
- Sainfoin – ‘Miele di lupinella’ (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.)
- Savory (aka Abruzzi Thyme Honey) – ‘Miele di santoreggia’ (Satureja montana L.)
- Sideritis – ‘Miele di stregonia’ (Sideritis syriaca)
- Sunflower – ‘Miele di girasole’ (Helianthus annuus L.)
- Sulla (aka Italian sainfoin, French honeysuckle. Sweetvetch) – ‘Miele di sulla’ (Hedysarum coronarium L.)
- Wildflower, Mountain Wildflower – ‘Millefiori, Millefiori di montagna’
Other honeys:
- Acacia – ‘Miele di acacia’ (Robinia pseudoacacia L.)
- Alfalfa – ‘Miele di erba medica’ (Medicago sativa L.)
- Borage – ‘Miele di borragine’ (Borago officinalis)
- Honey Rocket (aka Sanacciola) – ‘Miele di ruchetta o sanacciola’ (Cruciferae)
- Oak Honeydew – ‘Melata di quercia’ (Quercus robur, Q. petraea, Q. pubescens) (Insects: Lachnus iliciphilus, Lachnus roboris, Tuberculatus annulatus, Thelaxes dryophila)
- Thorn (aka Christ’s Thorn, Jerusalem Thorn) – ‘Miele di marruca’ (Paliurus spina-christi)
- Witch Grass – ‘Miele di erba strega’ (Labiatae)
PAT – Honey certified as a Traditional Italian Food.
Honey identified and cataloged by the Arc of Taste (Slow Foods)
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Resources and Further Reading
Italian – Abruzzo Region, Italy
Tourism: Province of Teramo, Abruzzo Region, Italy
Italian – Tourism: Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo Region, Italy
Hi Honey Lovers,
We are FindYourItaly.com (https://www.facebook.com/FindYourItaly), and we are a new concept website developed to personalize travel experiences to a genuine and authentic Italy with unique contacts with local people, providing an unmatched Italian lifestyle experience.
FindYourItaly.com is about to develop a tourism business filled with the social and responsible tourism concept, supported by local people (Buddies), focusing on frequent travelers/explorers who love non-traditional trips/tours and want to experience the rich Italian lifestyle flavor. This concept matches perfectly to those who have the “wine lovers profile”, for you could visit wine producers and a lot more.
Aiming to deliver always the best quality, FindYourItaly.com also needs partners that could join our team as part-time job promoters. These promoters should be able to handle some marketing activities in order to develop our target market and, of course, be rewarded for that. Should you be interested in hearing more about our business and be part of this journey, as a turist or a partner, write us an e-mail for the addresses below with your contacts and writing a few words about why you got interested. It would be a pleasure to keep contact with you at your website.
Best Regards,
Carlos Augusto
FYI Marketing Team
https://www.findyouritaly.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1153675&trk=tab_pro
https://www.facebook.com/FindYourItaly
Mobile: +39 327 828 6469
Hi Carlos:
It sounds very interesting. Do you have honey-based or beekeeping-based experiences in Italy? Perhaps with local farmers?
…Scott
Hi Scott, sorry for the late reply from FYI: Yes, we do have!
We are ending the legal procedures to be on line in september and yes, we can bring you to local producers!
Please give me a shout if you are interesting in being a beta tester or suggest trips!
andrea (at) findyouritaly.com
Next summer my father and me will be traveling to the Abruzzi region where my father is from. I am a beekeeper in Vermont, here in the States and would love to spend some time with a local beekeeper if possible. Is it possible to connect with someone there and spend some time learning about their operation etc? Thanks!
Russ