Malaga honey continues to gain sweet accreditation

Juan Soto

Malaga

Monday, 17 March 2025, 18:04

Juan Molina and Fernando de Miguel head to the 'campo' practically every day of the year. Just a few kilometres from the centre of Colmenar, on rural land that forms part of the Montes de Málaga natural park, these beekeepers have hives where they produce their own honey. "When we talk about local products, honey is the ultimate expression of this," they say. Both belong to Malaga's association of beekeepers and have made honey their way of life.

Although they are always pretty cheerful, in recent months they have been wearing a slightly broader smile than usual. After years of struggle and tireless work, Malaga honey has been certified as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO, or DOP in Spanish) and has also been protected by central government thanks to the implementation of new quality standards. Both of these milestones should serve to boost a sector that is not living its best moment. The fact is that the persistent drought and the threat posed by invasive pests, including the oriental hornet, have considerably reduced honey production over the last decade.

The province of Malaga has around 600 farms and 100,000 hives, according to figures from Malaga's association of beekeepers. In good years, that is, before the lack of rainfall hit the countryside hard, they produced between 25 and 30 kilos per hive, although now more than 15 is considered a successful harvest.

This year, however, growers are facing the start of the honey-producing season with optimism. The rains that have fallen over the last few months, mainly since the 'Dana' storms last autumn, have soaked the fields and made the crops flourish. Juan is excited because his bees have already started to collect nectar and he hopes to be able to produce 18 to 20 kilos of honey per hive. "Since the Dana the countryside is a little better and the hives are at the same level as they were ten years ago. All this, of course, is hoping that this spring we don't have any major storms ruining the crops and leaving the bees without food. We always have to be aware of many variables."

Malaga honey is mainly produced in three areas in the province: Axarquía, Antequera and Valle del Guadalhorce, although there are small-scale producers spread throughout the province. These two beekeepers in particular have several hives in Colmenar, where they also have a museum, the association's headquarters and they also provide training courses to professionals and schoolchildren. "This is one of our most important missions."

Malaga honey has had a guaranteed brand name for ten years, but last June it was certified as a PDO. Specifically, eight varieties of honey have been included as autochthonous (native and exclusive to the area): milflores (multifloral honey), orange blossom, rosemary, thyme, eucalyptus, chestnut, forest and avocado. Once officially recognised, the next steps were to create some distinctive labelling (which was launched this week) and to make the PDO status better known to the general public.

Beekeepers in Malaga began harvesting this year in February, mainly rosemary honey, and the season will continue until the end of September, when forest honey and holm oak honey will be harvested. In winter the bees hardly ever leave their hives because they are not lovers of the cold.

Looking ahead to the year that has just begun, beekeepers are particularly concerned about two variables: 'varoa destructor', a parasite (the varoa mite) that reduces the hive population and cannot be fully eradicated, and the oriental hornet, which pesters the bees and attacks the hives, preventing them from going out to pollinate. Regarding the latter, they give this warning: "It's going to be a wider social problem because they are already nesting in city centres."

For this reason, they believe that there should be greater involvement from all the governing bodies to find a way to put an end to them. "The hornet is going to affect many sectors, including tourism, because it is not going to be comfortable to be in a bar and have several of them buzzing around."

These two beekeepers also pause to consider the threat posed by honey imported from China, which is of much lower quality and which has even led the sector to stage numerous protests. They explain that imported honey sold in many food chains "is honey mixed with syrup", and warn that it is even being sold at prices below the cost of production.

Despite this, the scales are slowly tipping in their favour and they are grateful that there is a growing number of well-informed customers who value quality products. This is true both for private individuals and for the catering trade. "Until a few years ago, honey was only used for colds and was kept in the medicine cabinet", recalls Fernando, who has been a beekeeper since 1983. He continues: "Now it is common to see it in the kitchen for use in recipes and because it goes perfectly with cheeses and dairy products."

As they like to lead by example, these two beekeepers from Malaga say that they eat toast with oil and honey for breakfast. Juan recommends using avocado honey or even adding a bit of fresh avocado on top of the honey, while Fernando opts for the safe bet of eucalyptus. Whichever one it is, both list the numerous benefits of this product for the human body, and which should be eaten at room temperature so that it does not lose its healthy properties.

To combat fraud, the Spanish government has just modified the honey quality standard and established new labelling requirements, such as reflecting the origin of each honey on sale, including the countries and the percentage proportion in the contents. This is a measure that "will strengthen the image of the province's beekeeping sector on the foreign market, protecting it from the threat of fraud by other products in which honey is mixed with syrups and which are unfairly competing on price."

Just this last week, in fact, an event was held to place the first labels as 'Miel de Málaga'. The provincial delegate for agriculture with the Junta, Fernando Fernández Tapia-Ruano, took part in the event, highlighting the efforts of the association in achieving this recognition and the difficulties the sector is going through due to the drought and other issues such as pests and diseases.

For this very reason, and due to the loss of bee colonies and the reduction in production, he announced that it has been proposed that for the IRPF 2024 financial year there will be a 40% reduction in the net yield index in the module declaration. Undoubtedly, this is yet another boost for a sector that is the leading exponent of locally-produced honey.