Honey

Honey scented with rosemary is transparent and clear, that scented with salvia has a light yellow colour, with lavender smells like the flower itself whilst that of strawberry- is dark and bitter. The bees’ way of living as well as what it produces is still a secret today.

However, for many years, it is well known that apiculture is one of the most useful and most pleasant occupations and hobbies. Today honey is produced everywhere there are herbs that flower, but that produced at the island of Hvar has always been something very exotic and eagerly sought by honey lovers.

It is hard to determine when bee-keeping began on the island of Hvar. Thanks to archaeological research we have discovered that it began in Roman times as the Romans attached great importance to honey.

They regularly drank wine sweetened with it but they also used it as a sacrifice. The first fragments of an antique beehive made of baked clay of a cylindrical form were found in Stari Grad’s field as well as in Bogomolje and Sućurje. Among the herbs from whose pollen honey is made, Rosemary, Salvia, Lavender, Heather and Strawberry-tree particularly stand out. Honey scented with rosemary is transparent and clear, with a pleasant taste and is one of the higher quality varieties of honey.

Rosemary blooms in the spring and lasts around 40 days but the harvest is often disturbed by strong winds that blow in that period of the year. Salvia honey is a light yellow, slightly greenish colour with the same essence as its flower. It is preserved in a liquid state for a long time and is particularly desired for its features in healing respiratory organ diseases.

It is well known that the island of Hvar is an island of sun and Lavender. Lavender likes sunny areas near the sea so this is why it grows well here. Lavender is one of the herbs whose pollen is used most; its honey has a strong smell and is one of the finest quality honeys.

Both large and small heathers also grow on Hvar. Large heathers bloom in spring whilst the smaller one blooms in autumn. Honey made of both species is almost the same, cloudy and crystallising quickly. The latest bee pasture is given by the Strawberry-tree. This blooms in October, November and December and has red fruits called manjiga. Its honey has a bitter taste. Honey is also the main ingredient of Stari Grad’s paprenjok (gingerbread), a tasty pastry that Petar Hektorović also mentioned in his work Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje (Fishing and Fishermen's Talk).