Seggiano Raw Honey: Monti Iblei, Sicily

For six generations, Michele Oliva’s family has kept indigenous Sicilian bees among the citrus groves and wild, spontaneous flowering plants of the Iblei Mountains in eastern Sicily.

Seggiano Team

September 22, 2021

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Family pride, accumulated expertise in traditional beekeeping and modern cold-extraction techniques guarantee natural, raw honey of rare taste and quality.
A percentage of Seggiano Raw Honey sales goes to funding research into colony collapse.

SICILIAN WILD THYME HONEY

This unique amber honey is made from the nectar of aromatic wild thyme, which grows spontaneously in the rocky mountainside crevices and dry stone walls of the Monti Iblei mountains. Prized by the ancient Greeks for its rare fragrance, flavour and therapeutic properties, it is said to aid bronchial complaints and digestion.

Intensely aromatic, thyme honey is delicious with creamy cheeses.

SICILIAN WILD CARROT HONEY

Vast fields of wheat and barley have been cultivated on the high central plains of Sicily for millennia. After harvest each summer, Michele Oliva and his two sons position about three hundred hives on certified organic farmland, in good time for the wild carrot plants about to shoot up through the stubble.

Known in England as Queen Anne’s lace, wild carrot makes thick and complex honey, with a rich, intense butterscotch flavour. It sets in cool weather.

ORANGE BLOSSOM HONEY

From early March, Oliva’s bee families are busy collecting nectar in the perfumed citrus groves of southeastern Sicily to make this regional speciality, known locally as zagara.

Seggiano Sicilian Raw Honey is certified organic, meaning our bees only forage in pesticide-free groves, which is better for the bees and better for us honey lovers. Orange blossom gives a mild, thick golden honey, ideal for sweetening drinks or baking. As temperatures cool, this honey sets hard.

SICILIAN SULLA HONEY

This delicate honey is produced from vibrant, pink Sulla flowers, an ancient variety of clover also known as Sweet Vetch or French Honeysuckle, which grow wild on the hillsides of Sicily. It has a mild floral flavour, with hints of citrus within its sweetness. Its light amber liquidity becomes white, thick-set honey as it crystallises. Perfect at the breakfast table and an ideal accompaniment for cheeses, such as fresh and mature pecorino.

SICILIAN THISTLE HONEY

Vibrant purple thistle flowers grow in profusion on the wild, stony slopes surrounding Sicily’s citrus groves from May to July. Their nectar makes an intensely aromatic, amber-coloured honey, which crystallises and darkens within months of harvesting. Thistle honey has a richly floral, almost earthy aroma, and its flavour includes notes of caramel, mature fruits and spices.

SICILIAN CAROB HONEY

Wild carob trees are found throughout southeastern Sicily but will only blossom in certain years, given the right weather conditions. When providence allows, the Iblea carob trees flower in late October, and their nectar yields a gorgeous, rich, dark, fudgy honey.

Traditionally used in the famous dolci recipes of Modica, its thick, toffee-like quality and flavours are sublime with fresh ricotta or strong cheeses. An unusual and rare honey.

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