The South Pontino Honey

Since millennia ago’, honey has been considered a very important source of food for its high nutritional content and values. The honey production is still very common here in the South Pontino, both in the lowlands of the Pontine planes and on the Aurunci hills and mountains. This is due to the presence of many types of flowers many of which are found only locally. The little village of Campodimele in the middle of beautiful countryside territory has a millenary tradition for beekeeping which is a local tradition since ancient times to the point that the village’s name from the ancient Latin Campus Meli means ‘field of honey’. The scent and taste of honey changes considerably according to the local types of flowers visited by the bees. Here in the South Pontino one of the many varieties produced is a specific type of honey called ‘millefiori’ (means thousand flowers).

         Italian Honey

This variety of honey is produced from June to September in hives which are all around the Aurunci valleys, hills and mountains. The production of this type of honey is due to the great variety (over 1900 types) of flowers present in this area. Every year in occasion of summer blossoming, thousands of hives rush here, especially from the surrounding areas and the north. Some of the most popular are broom, heather, myrtle, strawberry tree, locust tree and other species found in the typical Mediterranean woodlands. The flavour of the millefiori honey has a very spicy notes also deriving from chestnut trees and many other strongly scented plants such as wild sage and tyme which grow freely on the slopes and fields of the Aurunci Mountains Regional Park.

Very sweet scented-like Eucalyptus, citrus or acacia the Pontine honey gets appreciations and reviews everywhere in Italy. The quality of the production in Latina province is surely at a high level, touching points of excellence in Italy. Recognized as a “traditional product” of Lazio by the Ministry of Agriculture, the local honey of the eucalyptus monoflora type is collected and manufactured mainly in the Pontine Plowlands. This particular variety of honey is made thanks to the presence of the Eucalypttus camaldulensis, a tree planted in abundance in the Agro Romano and in this territories of southern Lazio in the last century by monks. In fact, this specific tree can absorb large quantity of water from the ground and helps the reclaiming of the marshy land. The Eucalyptus trees honey is intensely aromatic, not very sweet and with balsamic properties, it is the ingredient of a refreshing natural beverage made with water, eucalyptus honey and lemon juice.

All the local varieties of honey have different taste and nutritional characteristics. For example the honey obtained from the flowers of the local citrus tree in the area of Fondi and Itri has a unique aroma. The bees do the largest part of the work by transforming the nectar and storing it into the honeycombs inside the beehives. Every single honeycombe is then sealed with the bees’ natural wax to be preserved better. Here in southern Lazio, in May the local honey producers add artificial honeycombs to the hives to increase the spring production with all the new flowers blooming. At this point man must only collect the honey and filter it before placing it in glass containers. Honey is a delicious food and can be used in many ways: on freshly baked rustic bread or together with fresh ricotta cheese at breakfast, alongside soft cheeses, to sweeten milk, coffee, tea or other drinks or even added to yogurt or sweets, cookies and cakes.

Main types of honey produced here in southern Lazio:

Thousand Flowers Honey – ‘Miele Millefiori’

The name ‘Millefiori’ is given to honey that is the result of not just from one specific plant but from an countless quantity and variety of different flowers. For this reason, the honey can have a different flavour and colour from year to year, depending on the botanical species that are prevailing in each season. This is one of the better known and loved table honeys, it is a high-energy food and one of the most complete.

Colour: straw/amber
Flavour: subtle, delicate
Characteristics: runny at extraction, crystallizes spontaneously in late summer and autumn.
Recommended use: for breakfast, morning and afternoon tea or just snacking, it is a great compliment to local South Pontino fresh cheeses.

Eucalyptus Honey - ‘Miele di Eucalpito’

A characteristic honey from the lower Lazio region near the area of Terracina, Sperlonga, Fondi and Campania borders.

Colour: from dark amber to grey.
Flavour: intense and persistent.
Characteristics: crystallizes quickly.
Recommended use: excellent accompaniment to cheeses, pastries and herbal teas.

Acacia Honey – ‘Miele di Acacia’

Acacia is one of the best-loved honeys by because of its potential to remain in a liquid state for a long period of time due to its high concentration of fructose. Here is one of the main variety of honey produced in the lowlands of South Pontino.

Colour: clear
Flavour: light, delicate, vanilla, floral.
Characteristics: remains liquefied for long periods.
Recommended use: excellent for sweetening without altering the taste or the aroma of drinks. Fantastic for children. It is a great companion to fresh ricotta cheese.

Orange Tree Honey –‘Miele di Arancio’

This is a characteristic honey from the area around Fondi, Itri and the hills around Formia with a distinct bouquet quality.

Colour: clear
Flavour: aromatic, pleasant, fragrance of orange blossoms.
Characteristics: crystallizes finely to a compact consistency of a clear white colour.
Recommended use: excellent as table honey, ideal for both young and old.

Chestnut Honey – ‘Miele di Castagno’

Characteristic honey from the inland hills and areas on the Aurunci and Ausoni slopes.

Colour: dark amber.
Flavour: intense aroma, pungent, with almost a bitter aftertaste.
Characteristics: remains liquefied for long periods.
Recommended use: recommended as a complement to seasoned cheeses.

Strawberry Tree (Arbutus Unendo) Honey – ‘Miele di Corbezzolo’

This is considered a very rare honey in that it’s produced during the autumn months, the time of the year with rainy days that are sometimes cold. On the local Aurunci Mountains the production can start during summer because of the periodic, sudden heavy showers and afternoon storms that favour the precocious flowering of the Arbutus Unendo. Normally this small bush flowers in the first half of October, a month in which the daylight hours are still relatively long and the temperature is still pleasant and mild.

Colour: clear amber tending towards grey
Flavour: typically pungent and decidedly bitter
Characteristics: crystallizes compactly if the percentage of humidity is around 18%
Recommended use: a great supplement to the local pecorino cheese.

Heather Honey – ‘Miele di Erica Arborea’

This is a typical spring honey from the Mediterranean countryside and forests of this area of southern Lazio.

Colour: tending towards orange.
Flavour: fresh floral aroma, delicate, with a wonderful aftertaste.
Characteristics: crystallizes rapidly.
Recommended use: great table honey and doesn’t cloud herbal teas.

Sunflower Honey - ‘Miele di Girasole’

Sunflower honey is a typical honey from the farms around Sabaudia, Circeo and Terracina.

Colour: yellow.
Flavour: delicate, light and waxy.
Characteristics: crystallizes rapidly and usually in a very compact mass.
Recommended use: table honey that is widely used by companies involved in biscuit and nougat making.

Honeydew Honey - ‘Miele di Melata di bosco’

Distinctive honey from uncultivated and forested zones. It is distinctive from other honeys for the fact that it comes from the sugary secretions of the leaves of some arboreal essence and shrubs that is caused by specific types of aphids (metcalfa pruinosa).

Colour: dark with brown tones and highlights.
Flavour: medium intensity of cooked fruit and of malt.
Characteristics: remains: liquefied for long periods, very dense.
Recommended use: as this is a honey rich in mineral salts it is highly recommended for sports people and is very good on cakes, sweets and pastries.

Hedysarum Coronarium Honey - ‘Miele di Sulla’

Difficult to find due its very limited production this is a characteristic honey from inland pastures of this territories with mountains close to sea, with scents of the sea blending with the wild Mediterranean herbs and flowers of rosmarine, lavender, jasmine and many others.

Colour: clear
Flavour: delicate, subtle, unusual and almost unreal.
Characteristics: crystallizes uniformly and finely.
Recommended use: for infants, excellent for dessert and nougat making.

Lime Tree Honey - ‘Miele di Tiglio’

Another variety from lowlands territories, peculiar and a very good honey.

Colour: clear
Flavour: fresh, balsamic, with aroma of pastures and an intense flavour.
Characteristics: crystallizes uniformly.
Recommended use: excellent honey for herbal teas.

Clover Honey – ‘Miele di Trifoglio’

A classic honey from the coastal hills and plains. Common in the area of Formia, Maranola and some of the small villages around the southern border of Lazio with Campania.
Colour: clear tending to yellow.
Flavour: light, subtle, delicate and floral.
Characteristics: crystallizes compactly.
Recommended use: a typical table honey, very eclectic.