Fir Vanilla Honey VERY RARE 450g-15.87oz caramel (pearl) and vanilla

Description

Fir Vanilla Honey VERY RARE 450g-15.87oz caramel (pearl) and vanilla

Nature’s Liquid Gold, Harvested with Tradition Sourced from the sun-kissed mountains and wildflower fields of Greece, this pure honey is a celebration of nature’s richness and the legacy of traditional beekeeping. Every golden drop carries the aroma of thyme, pine, and wild herbs—capturing the Mediterranean in its most delicious form. Unfiltered, unprocessed, and untouched by time, our honey offers exceptional taste, velvety texture, and natural energy. Whether drizzled over yogurt, paired with cheese, or savored by the spoonful, it brings a touch of luxury to your daily rituals. 100% Natural | No Additives | Sustainably Harvested. Experience the true taste of Greece—in every spoonful.

The Kefalonian fir is found in various parts of the country: from the mountains of the Peloponnese and Central Greece, Kefalonia and Evia to Olympus and Athos. Vanilla, however, is only produced in the fir forests of the Peloponnese and above all in Mainalos in Arcadia. It was produced, that is, since in recent years it has probably handed over the reins to other mountains, neighboring and not. Not that the other mountains did not work in the past, but such was the intensity of honey secretion in Mainalos that mainly all the beekeepers there unloaded in a crowded manner. Now the flocks travel to Feneos, Panachaikos, Erymanthos, Helmos, Parnonas, Taygetos and other small peaks, where even a few tufts of fir trees have awakened and are also claiming something of the old Arcadian prestige, with their own particular color variations and shades.

In 1996, Mainalo vanilla was recognized by the European Union as a honey with a Protected Designation of Origin, otherwise P.D.O.

Fir honey is not collected from flowers, but from the honeydew produced by various host insects, familiar to beekeepers as the bug, the tassel, the knot, etc. Vanilla in particular is produced by the insect Physokermes Hemicryphus, in the knots of the tree’s young branches.
The honeydew looks like thick white drops or – in a more dehydrated form – like tiny white donuts.

Production usually lasts from mid-May (the older ones always loaded the fir trees on the 21st, the feast day of Saint Constantine) until mid-to-late June. From then on, the same fir trees, if they have the appetite to continue, produce red-colored honey, which still retains some highlights.

The bees collect the vanilla, store it in the cells of the honeycomb and process it in their magical, insoluble, mysterious way. The beekeeper collects these precious honeycombs and begins – or rather continues – a race to get them through the honey extractor quickly, as the vanillas inside the frames, away from the bees, transform into a kind of glue and solidify quickly, which makes their extraction time-consuming, laborious and painful.
Several honeycombs break, unable to withstand the force of centrifugation, and in many cases, not all of the stored honey is extracted.

The honey remains in the maturation containers for a short time, so that it can clarify, self-clean, raising thin layers of wax, propolis and pollen to the surface. The moment we open the cannula and a glass jar welcomes its majesty, is always a rite of passage.

Vanilla fir honey does not crystallize due to its high pH and of course its nutritional value is undeniable. It has very low sugar levels and is rich in enzymes, proteins, vitamins and trace elements, such as iron, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium.