The feast of St Anne, which falls on June 26, traditionally kicks off the summer honey harvesting season for local beekeepers.

In Malta there are three "honey seasons".

The warm climate of these islands, albeit the lack of rainfall, produce enough flora for the apis mellifera - the honey bee - to produce honey almost through-out the whole year.

The spring honey, that is, the honey produced by the bees throughout the winter months and harvested in May, is made up from nectars of mixed flora. It is locally referred to as multiflora honey.

In June, the garigue land of our islands is covered in beautiful purple bushes of wild thyme from which the honey bees produce the well-renowned summer Wild Thyme honey. The thyme honey is distinguished for its aromatic properties and has a golden colour when compared to other types of local honey. Although this season is short, honey is produced in abundance as the wild thyme is highly prolific in nectar.

The autumn honey is also known as the carob honey. It is not to be confused with the carob syrup. The former is a natural produce where human intervention is only required to extract the honey from the trays inside the hive whereas the latter follows a recipe where refined sugar and carob pods are broiled according to ancient methods.

One is not to be put off by honey that cristallises in the jar. Honey is a live product where enzymes remain active even after honey is consumed. Honey crystallisation is a natural process that occurs when the colder weather starts setting in and varies according to the type of honey. This process can be reversed by heating the honey jar in baine marie not exceeding a temperature of 45˚C. By keeping this temperature, the benefits reaped from consuming pure local honey will not be altered.

One can observe the bees and learn more about beekeeping and local honey varieties by visiting the Honey Fest to be held tomorrow from 6.30 to 11.30 p.m. at the Independence Gardens, Sliema. The Honey Fest is organised by the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs as part of the Naturalment Malti calendar of activities to promote local produce.

Mr Camilleri is agricultural officer at the Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs and Ms Ciantar is principal, Naturalment Malti coordinating team.