Country

Italy

Italy is almost ridiculously well suited to Honey Chronicles. CREA describes about 1.6 million hives managed by nearly 82,000 beekeepers, producing more than 30 commercially important monofloral honeys across climates that run from Alpine to Mediterranean. Even the bees themselves are famous: Italy is the homeland of the Italian honeybee, Apis mellifera ligustica, exported around the world, while Sicily has its own native black bee, Apis mellifera siciliana. The honey map is just as rich. Three Italian honeys have EU Protected Designation of Origin status: acacia-rich Miele Varesino, acacia and chestnut Miele della Lunigiana, and the wildly diverse Miele delle Dolomiti Bellunesi, which ranges from dandelion and rhododendron to dark fir honeydew. Italy also has a huge commercial challenge: domestic demand exceeds national production, leaving the market dependent on imported honey. For Atlas, Italy is not one country entry. It is dozens of honey landscapes waiting to be connected.