In spite of its recent international appeal, Greek honey has long been considered the best in the world, even during ancient times. This is due to its pure, sweet taste along with its proven nutritional benefits.
Greece has a historic beekeeping tradition In Greece’s Archaic period, Greeks moved past simply foraging for honey in the wild, and started beekeeping on a larger scale. Amazingly, archaeologists have located the sites of ancient beehives after uncovering pottery used to collect their prized golden honey. They have also found evidence that beekeepers during the Hellenistic period were so advanced that they rotated their beehives across big expanses of the country in order to take advantage of the different plants found in various regions.
This longstanding history of Greek beekeeping continues to this day, as Greek honey-producers find success in engaging in this ancient practice. Located on the Greek island of Evia, a 4th generation honey farmer produces delicious Greek honey, considered a superfood worldwide.Why Greek honey is the best“All countries produce good natural honey, but they are inferior to Greek honey,” explains Dimitris Papapostolou.Greek honey is unique because of the country’s famed biodiversity and temperate climate.
The wide variety of trees and flowers found in Greece makes the country a playground for bees, who produce honey with different tastes depending on their surroundings. Papapostolou is truly an expert on the sweet product, as his great-grandfather started harvesting honey in Northern Evia more than a hundred years ago.
Today he continues the family tradition, keeping his beloved bees in a beautiful pine forest on Evia and producing Greek honey of special quality. Pine honey has a distinctive, delicious taste that is different than flower honey, because “in the case of pine honey and fir honey the bees are fed from the microorganisms that live only on these trees and not from the actual tree,” says Papapostolou.
Papapostolou honors his bees, stating that “without them, life wouldn’t exist on our planet.”
Bees play an integral role in pollinating many plants that we rely on for food and other uses, and without them, many plants and entire ecosystems would be destroyed. Climate change has impacted bee populations, which have been decreasing at a frightening rate.
Scientists and bee-experts underline the importance of supporting beekeepers and buying sustainably-produced honey, as it helps keep essential bee populations strong.
Papapostolou ships his exceptional Greek honey worldwide at melissospito.gr.
