Sicilian Thistle Honey

Sicilian Thistle Honey from “Le Bontà di Villa Dafne” is produced by our bees of the Nera Sicula and Ligustica breeds. It is a honey that is produced in a period that goes from late spring to early summer, when the colors of the Sicilian hinterland change from the intense green of the pastures to the golden yellow of the wheat. Our apiaries are located in an area between the low Madonie and the Sicani Mountains, that is, in a rural context, far from large cities and sources of pollution. Sicilian Thistle Honey from “Le Bontà di Villa Dafne” is born following the slow and constant rhythms dictated by a still uncontaminated nature and with production systems that do not cause any impact on the environment, indeed thanks to the pollination of the bees, its correct development and the increase of its biodiversity are favored: an act of love between the bee and the flower, the result of millennia of coevolution between the plant and animal world.

The Thistle Honey is characterized by a deep straw yellow color, and a smell of flowers and fresh fruit and fruit in syrup. The taste is medium sweet, with an aroma in the mouth that recalls the smells perceived by the nose and an aftertaste that evolves into a slightly bitter finish, typical of thistle honey. The Thistle honey is a so-called monofloral honey precisely because it comes exclusively from a single botanical origin, the thistle (Galactite Tomentosa)  [It:Cardo], which is a perennial herbaceous essence that grows spontaneously in the Sicilian hinterland.

Once produced by our bees, we go to the apiary, the honeycombs are collected and taken to the honey extraction laboratory where the honey is extracted, with uncapping and subsequent centrifugation. The entire process is done cold and without any pasteurization. It is good to remember, by the way, that honey is a product that crystallizes naturally over time. Crystallization, in fact, is a natural process in which sugars pass from a liquid to a solid state, and it is a sign that the honey is genuine and not subjected to pasteurization or other industrial processes. Some types of honey, however, due to their composition, crystallize very slowly and do not tend to crystallize, while for others, such as Thistle honey, crystallization can be a faster process.