Regional and Endemic Sources

Regional and endemic honey sources are plants that are abundant only in a particular area, or grow only there, and give that area's honeys their distinctive character. With around 12,000 plant species and subspecies, roughly a third of them endemic, Türkiye has a very rich flora. This page covers Türkiye's main honey sources by region, thymes such as za'atar and Turkish oregano, rhododendron and the mad honey warning, Black Sea chestnut, Muğla pine and the Anatolian highlands.

Why are general forage lists not enough?

Lists of honey plants in books and on the internet reflect the experience of another region. The same species flowers at a different time and gives a different amount of nectar in a different climate; soil, altitude, rainfall and night temperatures change the outcome. Even over short distances the difference is large: flowering can shift by weeks between a valley floor and a hillside. That is why knowledge of regional forage can only be built up by observation on the spot.

Türkiye's main honey sources by region

The table below is a general framework; within each region, too, there are big differences between coast, plain and mountain.

Za'atar and Turkish oregano: Anatolia's thyme honeys

Among the plants known in Türkiye as "thyme", two of the most important for beekeeping are:

• Za'atar (Thymbra spicata; spiked thyme): grows on the stony slopes, maquis and dry grasslands of the Aegean, the Mediterranean and South-eastern Anatolia. Its pink-purple flowers are borne in spikes; it generally flowers between May and July.
• Turkish oregano (Origanum onites; pot marjoram): common on rocky ground in the Aegean and western Mediterranean; its small white flowers are gathered into round heads. It usually flowers in June–July and is also an important spice plant that is harvested commercially.

Honey taken from places where these thymes dominate is amber, with a sharp, lingering aroma. Thyme flowering moves up with altitude; a flow that has ended on the coast may just be starting in the villages higher up.

Rhododendron and mad honey: what beekeepers need to know

Pontic rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum; also known as common rhododendron) covers large areas in the eastern Black Sea region, as well as in the humid forests of the western Black Sea and Marmara; it generally flowers from April to June, and up to July at higher altitudes. The yellow-flowered yellow azalea (Rhododendron luteum; Pontic azalea) is also found in the same regions.

The nectar of these plants contains toxic substances called grayanotoxins. Honey in which rhododendron nectar dominates is called mad honey. People who eat mad honey may experience dizziness, nausea and vomiting, sweating, a drop in blood pressure, a slowed heart rate and fainting; every year people in the Black Sea region go to hospital for this reason. Symptoms usually begin shortly after eating it.

Practical advice for beekeepers in rhododendron areas:

1. Know your foraging area: Know how dense rhododendron is around the apiary and when it flowers.
2. Harvest separately: Do not mix honey from the rhododendron bloom with later chestnut or highland honey.
3. Do not market suspect honey: Do not sell honey that is extremely bitter, gives a burning feeling in the throat or whose source you are unsure of.
4. Time your move to the highlands: If possible, keep colonies away from these areas while rhododendron is in heavy bloom.

Black Sea chestnut and highland honeys

The humid climate of the Black Sea region is ideal for sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) forests. Chestnut flowers in June–July; dark, bitterish chestnut honey is the symbol of the region. Because chestnut gives plenty of pollen as well as honey, it keeps colonies strong in early summer. In recent years, pests such as the chestnut gall wasp and chestnut blight have weakened trees and reduced flowering in some areas.

After the chestnut flow, many beekeepers move their colonies up to the highland pastures. High plateaus such as the Anzer plateau in Rize are known for their highly prized honeys made from the contributions of a great many flowering plants. The eastern Black Sea region is also the natural range of the Caucasian bee.

Muğla pine and pine honey

The Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia) forests of Muğla, Aydın, İzmir and Antalya are among the regions that supply most of the world's pine honey. The source of pine honey is not flowers but the honeydew of the scale insect Marchalina hellenica, which lives on pine trunks. The flow generally runs from August to November, peaking in autumn, and varies greatly from year to year with rainfall, temperature and insect density. Details are on the "Trees and Forest Resources" page.

Setting up an apiary in a forest is subject to the forestry authority's rules: permits to stay, keeping a fire extinguisher and the restrictions that may be imposed during the fire season must all be kept in mind.

The Anatolian highlands and migratory beekeeping

The highlands of Central and Eastern Anatolia burst into flower in early and midsummer with milkvetch (Astragalus), sainfoin, thymes, knapweeds and many endemic species. The higher the altitude, the later the flowering; this is the basis of migratory beekeeping. The beekeeper spends spring on the coast or the plain and extends the forage season by moving colonies to ever-higher pastures through the summer.

• Where to stay: Follow local rules on the use of highland pastures and grazing land and the siting regulations of the provincial and district agriculture directorates.
• Density: On plateaus where many hives gather, forage runs out quickly and robbing and the spread of disease increase.
• Weather: Cold nights and sudden rain are common on high plateaus; weak colonies suffer.

Endemic plants and claims of origin

Species that grow only in a particular region create a honey character unique to that region, and this is a commercially valuable distinction. But claiming that a honey comes from a particular area or plant requires proof:

• Separate harvest: Extract and store the honey from each apiary and period separately.
• Records: Which apiary, which date, which plants were flowering, and hive-scale data.
• Analysis: Pollen analysis and physicochemical analyses support a claim of origin (see "Pollen Analysis and Honey Character").

Make your own regional forage map

The most valuable tool is the beekeeper's own records:

1. Write down flowering dates: Which plant flowered on which date, at what altitude.
2. Match them with scale data: During which bloom did weight go up, and during which did it not? If there are flowers but no weight gain, there is no forage.
3. Note pollen colours: The colour of the pollen coming into the hive shows which plant is being worked.
4. Add the weather: The same plant yields differently in different years; the reason is usually the weather.

Such records, kept over many years, are rare data showing how flowering is shifting with climate change. Shared with beekeepers' associations, they build a regional pool of knowledge. Endemic plant communities are the first to be affected by habitat loss and climate change; on this issue the beekeeper is both an observer and a stakeholder.