By Joseph A. Kechichian

Beirut: Like hard-working bees everywhere, Lebanese bees pollinate
essential vegetables and fruits such as broccoli, asparagus,
cantaloupes, cucumbers, pumpkins, blueberries, watermelons, almonds,
apples, cranberries, and cherries. They do a whole lot more, of
course, as they also produce honey, which they consume during winter
season as food, though humans are equally fond of the amber. It is
a little known fact that Lebanon is one of the only countries in the
world where bees can find natural sources of nectar all year long. Because
of the diversity of its altitudes (from 0 to 3000 meters), its position
on the Mediterranean, its 4 distinct seasons, and the diversity of its
flora, flowering seasons occur almost all year long. As a result, Lebanon’s honey is one of the best in the world.

As described in the Old Testament, “Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is
like the fragrance of Lebanon” (Solomon 4:11), which confirms that this
country which is mentioned frequently in Scriptures — has a lot more to
offer than gloom and doom. Remarkably, honey production has grown
in recent years though and, far more important, local beekeepers have
garnered international attention. Not only did they develop unique
techniques to improve yields, they also guarantee year-long production
of pesticide-free honey.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of
Agriculture, the number of beekeepers increased by 14 per cent from the
end of 2011 to mid-2015 (from 5,546 to 6,340 beekeepers), while the
number of hives increased by 41 per cent during the same period (from
194,520 to 274,390 beehives). Honey production increased by 35 per
cent between 2011 and 2015 (from 1,360 tonnes to 1,920 tonnes), for an
estimated value of $38 million (Dh139.58 million) for the last year for
which statistics were available.

To be sure, Lebanon produces
exceptional honey, including the oak and cedar varieties, though
innovations sharply improved the quality of new types.

At
L’Atelier du Miel, a gem of a production outlet with a boutique
(Ashrafieh) that opened in 2011 in a decor that resembles an actual
apiary, one can taste orange blossom, raspberry, lime, acacia,
eucalyptus, wild lavender, rosemary, thyme, cedar, hawthorn, thorns, and
the exceptional medlar [aqi-dunyah in Arabic] honey, which is truly in a
class by itself as one is able to taste the fruit in one’s palate long
after the honey melts away.

Its owners gave up desk jobs in management and engineering to work the land and be closer to nature.

What
their project focused on was the country’s topography — whose diverse
altitudes ranged between sea-level and 3,088 metres (10,131 feet) at
Qurnat Al Sawda’ in the Cedars — along with its distinct four seasons
that allow for rich flora all year long.

Although Lebanon’s honey
tends to be one of the best, what L’Atelier du Miel did was remarkably
innovative, as beekeepers developed a production method that relies on
moving the beehives to follow flower-blossoming seasons.

Speaking to Gulf News, Ghinwa Abisamra, a shop attendent, happily explained the process.

“This
technique allows bees to feed only on the nectar of flowers and on the
honeydew of trees instead of gorging on sugar that, regrettably, all
permanently anchored beehives require,” she says.

Repositioning
beehives across Lebanon is of course possible because of the country’s
relatively small size, even if the actual surface of the land appears to
be far larger because of its mountainous topography.

In other
words, one is actually able to move beehives from the Cedar Forests in
the Barouk (Chouf region) to Kesrwan forests (oak trees), or from fields
of cherry in Zahle to peach and apricot trees in Rechmaya, or even to
hawthorn in Kab Elias, thorns in Ain Dara, Medlar trees in Sidon, and
orange trees in Tyre and Akkar, all with relative ease.

The
travelling bees move from one location to the other depending on the
season, which enables producers to offer 100 per cent natural honey,
without the use of additives and pesticides or, equally bad, without
resorting to sugar to feed stationary bees that must survive the
elements.

L’Atelier du Miel aims to make Lebanon one of the best producers of honey in the world.

Towards
that end, it produces honey that is raw from the comb, is not heated,
nor blended even if some varieties are imported from European countries
to meet growing demand.

It encourages local farmers to maintain
pesticide- and antibiotic-free orchards, and pledges to work with those
who meet such standards, all to give its honey its unique qualities.

Of
course, the development of this sector of Lebanese agriculture will
help limit rural displacement and push beekeepers to stand their ground,
though added investments are necessary to procure good equipment, along
with the introduction of innovative agricultural practices.

Interestingly,
a 2013 American University of Beirut Department of Agriculture
programme has focused on the establishment of the first centre for
breeding queen bees in the country, which will dramatically improve
long-term as production too.

They, at least, will be the missing royalty in the true land of milk and honey.