Transhumance

Definition

The alpine and Mediterranean form of migratory beekeeping: colonies move up the valley as flowering rises with the melt, mirroring the movement of livestock on the same pastures. Practised across Spain, France, Italy, Turkey and Central Asia, and long established enough to have shaped which honeys those regions are known for.

Honey records that discuss this

• Lavender honeyOvertly perfumed — lavender flower, warm hay and a soft fruity sweetness underneath. Aromatic in a way most honeys are not.
• Mountain honeyAromatic, complex and warm, with a herbal-resinous depth and considerably more going on than a lowland multifloral. It tastes of a landscape rather than of a flower.
• Alpine meadow honeyComplex and aromatic, with a herbal lift over warm caramel and a distinctly clean finish — the flavour of a great many plants rather than of any one.
• Heather honeyStrong, smoky and slightly bitter, with a lingering woodfire-and-toffee character. One of the most complex honeys produced anywhere.
• Ak balMild, creamy and delicately floral with a faint herbal lift — the texture is much of the appeal, dense and smooth and dissolving rather than sticky.