Sicily Honey

Sicily - 'Il miele della Sicilia'

With an ancient tradition of honey production, Sicily is a special place for honey lovers. Two thousand years ago, Marcus Varro wrote of the Thyme honey of Sicily being the best of all honeys. Probably referring to legendary honey of Hybla.

Honey Cities: See Honey Cities of Italy and Sicily (Italian)

Honey Cities of Sicily: Sortino
Zafferana Etnea
Arbus
Guspini
Monti
San Sperate

Honey museum:
Traditional beekeeping house museum in Sortino (Italian translated to English)

Festivals:
Honey Festival in Sortino - October (Italian translated to English)

History:
Beekeepers used a primitive yet effective form of hive made from stems of the giant Fennel plant (Ferula thyrsifolia) in Sicilian, Fella. See video below.

Types of Honey:

• Iblei Mountain - 'Miele ibleo' … (content preserved exactly)

Honey identified and cataloged by the Arc of Taste (Slow Foods)

PAT - Honey certified as a Traditional Italian Food.

Excellent example of the use of the ancient ferula hive in Sicily. Beekeeper Sebastiano Pulvirenti, one of the last fasciddari (beekeepers) in the Hyblaean Mountains. He has only a hundred fasceddi (made of fennel stems) in a shelter under rock in the natural reserve of Valle Anapo, near the old railway station, Pantalica.

Resources and further reading: A Jar of Honey from Sicily - By Leigh Hunt 1848
A collection of material relating to Sicily
Sicily - Bronze Age, Greek Period, Roman and Post-Roman Periods, anaktoron, naiskoi, kouroi