Maltese honey under the microscope
An in-depth study on Maltese honey has been launched with the aim of analysing its characteristics and floral origins. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
The first in-depth study on Maltese honey, which will form the basis to authenticate it, has been launched with the aim of analysing the characteristics and floral origin of this iconic produce.
The project between the Division of Rural Sciences and Food Systems and Golden Island Ltd will develop a DNA pollen database, derived from microscopic analysis. Through the database, the project would also help to map out the islands’ best bee-foraging areas, required to be safeguarded for future generations for honey production.
In the long term, the project, being funded by the Malta Council for Science and Technology, also aims to produce a Maltese honey standard, which will not only benefit the end user but also protect the local bee-keeping industry from imported counterfeit products. Novel bio-molecular techniques would be applied to study in detail the floral origin of Maltese honey for the first time and samples would be examined by microscopic techniques to analyse the pollen content, said project coordinator Adrian Bugeja Douglas from the University of Malta. Malta, known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Melite, which derives from the Greek word meli, meaning honey, has been associated with bee-keeping and honey production since the times of the Phoenicians, who started by domesticating wild swarms, using earthenware jars still found in some Punic apiaries. Maltese honey remains a sought-after and prized gourmet product despite the extensive development of key foraging countryside and the introduction of disease that has greatly diminished the unique Maltese honey bee subspecies.
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21 Comments
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Elisah Philips
Feb 22nd 2011, 16:16
I am very proud to sell these Golden Island products in Belgium. I just started a little shop called Melite in the touristic part of Belgium, Bruges. And i must say, i get compliments everytime :) so people seem to really like it ;) i wish to keep on selling these Maltese products of Golden Island!
Keep on doing a great job!
Greetings from Belgium!
Elisah
www.melite.be
Claudette Gambin
Feb 16th 2011, 08:09
I'm surprised that this study is being considered the first of its kind in Malta. As fas I'm aware the first study on the botanical characterisation of Maltese Honey was carried out by the undersigned way back in 2006. It was also mentioned in the Times of Malta:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20061203/environment/biology-symposium-2006
No one had ever carried out such analysis before and I had decided to tackle the subject because I have a passion for insects, mainly pollinators. In fact in my B.Sc thesis I had carried out another analysis on pollen but taken from the gut of hoverflies to determine their feeding preferences. This previous "experience" then led me to study the pollen content of Maltese Honey in order to determine its botanical composition, as my M.Sc. thesis, under the supervision of Mr. Edwin Lanfranco, professor of Botany at the University of Malta.
I collected honey samples from Malta, Gozo and also Comino and also compiled a pollen library of the local botanical species that are visited by honey bees to serve as a reference guide.
I am truely surpised that the MCST did not carry out a literature review to truely determine whether previous studies on Maltese Honey were carried out.
Michael Buhagiar
Feb 16th 2011, 17:21
I can confirm that Ms. Gambin did this research in 2006. At that time I was asked by the Apiculture Official to handle her some honey samples for this research which I freely contributed.
Għaqda Produtturi tal-Għasel Malti
Feb 14th 2011, 10:35
Għaqda Produtturi tal-Għasel Malti
ċ/o 69, Triq L-Iżbark Tal-Franċiżi, Mellieħa, MLĦ1653, Malta(EU)
mob :79206970. email cinimark.1@gmail.com
VO/0432
As an association we fully agree with this study, but we were never informed about such impotent issue, we got to know about it from the media. Our opinion is that there should have been more government bodies included in such a study. To answer Mr. Sciberras as far as we have been informed no beekeepers were contacted to take part in this study and with that frame with bees on it in page three it will make things more difficult to convince beekeeper to participate.
As an association we have some question to ask and we will be glad if some one can answer:-
Does the Golden Island Ltd. import honey, pollen or any other bee products?
Is there any conflict of interest?
Did the MCST made any research if the company is credible or not. If yes what type of research was done?
The association fell that the persons or board who is responsible for this study will give a full explanation of how the study is going to be conducted.
Michael Buhagiar
Feb 13th 2011, 12:53
@Mr. Ray Sciberras
How the beekeepers can help with this project. We were not even informed about it by the Agriculture Department. Why should a beekeeper hand samples to his competitor in the same sector? Why not the samples are not collected by a laboratory or a govermental entity instead of a beekeeper like you that has interest in selling his own product. How a standard is going to be set up? Are the samples going to be collected from different parts of the Maltese Islands i.e. Gozo and Commino included? Why are you saying that those who dont participate in this project have something to hide? If a beekeper imports honey and is asked to handle a sample for sure he will handle a genuine bottle of honey even if he has to buy it. By the way this is not the first time that Maltese Honey was tested for various things, and genuine Maltese honey was always found to be one of the best types of honey. Clients should have faith from where to buy the product.
Paul Borg
Feb 10th 2011, 18:10
Not so long ago I wrote a letter about Pure Gozo Honey not so pure. The article was followed up by Journalist Cynthia Busuttil and after the health inspector visited the producer, and the operation was shut down. Our honey should also be checked for additives such as sugar. I cannot beleive that we have such a big production of honey and yet...you find it in every supermarket, every corner shop, every health shop and every street vendor.
Ray Sciberras - Golden Island Ltd.
Feb 11th 2011, 07:33
Many thanks for all your positive comments. We at Golden Island Ltd are very happy to have had our project funded my MCST. We are a small company and strive to make genuine Maltese products, for both the local and overseas market. We are ready to cooperate with any interested beekeepers in further advancing this project and improve results.
Unfortunately despite our good intensions, we still found resistance from various beekeepers to allow us to take samples from their apiaries for analysis and monitoring, makes us wander what they have to hide! We look forward to having all the top players in this field contribute to this project.
We also appeal to any beekeepers interested to participate in this three year project to contact me on honeyandmore@gmail.com
George Baldacchino
Feb 11th 2011, 12:09
Dear Mr Sciberras of Golden Islands Ltd
I wonder why you did not contacted me for honey sampling. I am George Baldacchino, the biggest beekeeper in Malta, owning 250 hives and as far as I know no other beekeeper owns half as much as I own. I have friends who are considered to be the larger beekeepers who contacted me when they heard of this project and again none of them were contacted by your entity for honey sampling. I wonder if you had contacted the Maltese beekeepers Accosiation,The Malta honey Producers Organisation (NGO) and the Department of Agriculture, who as far as I am informed the latter two were never contacted about tis matter. I cannot understand why you are accusing beekeepers not to co-operate while they never heard of this project. I wonder if there is something mysterious in this project.
Can I ask you how many registered hives do you have?
I also want to point out that the photo of the bee hive you presented on page 3, in my opinion it was evident that was suffering from European Foul Brood.
I wonder if beekeepers are hiding something or they are afraid to co-operate with you.
Phil Humphries
Feb 10th 2011, 16:26
Some years ago I accidentally discovered that as well as tasting heavenly, good quality Maltese Honey also speeds-up the healing of Cold Sores. Since then, I have always used Maltese Honey to treat this irritating infliction, which has saved me a fortune on expensive and generally ineffective proprietary treatments.
This accidental discovery prompted me to do some research into the medicinal and restorative properties of Honey, which turned out to be extremely enlightening. Time and space prevent me from expanding here, but I would urge readers to check this out for themselves.
I have no hesitation in stating that good quality Mellieha Honey is the finest I’ve ever tasted. It isn’t cheap, but quality comes at a price and with Honey you get what you pay for. Besides, pure honey doesn’t support the growth of harmful bacteria, so it won’t go off.
Don't accept imitations. Pay the price and enjoy the benefits.
H.J. Grech
Feb 10th 2011, 16:51
Dear Mr. Humphries,
Why don't you try propolis or set honey for a change? Their properties are incredible.
Phil Humphries
Feb 10th 2011, 17:36
@ H J Grech.
Thanks for the tip, Mr Grech. I'll certainly look into it. - Hope it tastes as nice as honey on delicious Maltese bread ? ( Just kidding, of course :))
Ray Sciberras - Golden Island Ltd.
Feb 11th 2011, 07:33
This study will allow us to scientifically test the authentication of Maltese honey, it will hopefully also help the authorities concerned to be able to regulate the local market which is plagued with imported 'mislabeled' products. Unfortunately current control practices by the authorities in this sector have been poor and sporadic. We hope that our initiative will help to eventually setup local standards which will improve honey production and increase consumer confidence in genuine Maltese honey. We also hope that this study will bring us in line with the rest of Europe in regards to honey production and monitoring. Since we also export our Maltese honey products and some of the concerned authorities have taken little initiative to regulate this craft and sector; as a leader in the industry we had no alternative but to take initiatives to ensure for the necessary scientific improvements; these will benefit the whole local sector.
We also appeal to any beekeepers interested to participate in this three year project to contact me on honeyandmore@gmail.com
Peter Galea
Feb 10th 2011, 14:39
If I am not mistaking it is the Malta Standards Authority which is responsible for EU Regulations on geographic indications, why are they not being involved? I heard Mr. George Pullicino during a recent debate stating that he is going to work with the standard body on this matter.
Joe Borg
Feb 10th 2011, 14:33
More quality control is required. There are persons importing honey from Asia, which is no where near to our local honey and selling it as local Maltese honey. This is a very serious matter. It can be very dangerous to health. Imagine giving your child some of this honey. The damage it can do is unthinkable.
The imported honey is not natural honey. It is mostly sugar. Scientific tests can prove this. Those persons importing such "asian" honey and selling it as local honey should be prosecuted. Playing with ones health is not a joke.
Or maybe we´re in it only for the honey, errrrrrr i mean money.
Phil Humphries
Feb 10th 2011, 17:20
Absolutely right, Mr Borg.
And with regard to giving Honey to Children, my research revealed the following warning...
"Never feed honey to a child under one year of age. Honey sometimes contains Clostridium botulinum spores. Although they’re inactive in the honey itself, once inside a digestive tract they can multiply and cause a potentially fatal disease of the nervous system called infant botulism. By the time of a child’s first birthday, there are usually enough beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract to make it an inhospitable environment for Clostridium botulinum, meaning that honey can be eaten safely."
I can't imagine people would give honey to babies, but it is worthwhile knowing this, just in case.
Joseph Vassallo
Feb 10th 2011, 11:43
Can they please do the same for olive oil products? I have two mini pourers bought as extra virgin olive oil but that don't even smell or taste of olive oil. The consistency suggests to me that it is sunflower oil and if this is the case, the sale is fraudulent.
Joe Camilleri
Feb 10th 2011, 11:25
It is about time that those hawkers with " ASEL AL BEJH" signs, become standardised.
J. Vella
Feb 10th 2011, 14:38
It's also about time people start writing standardised (ie: proper) Maltese grammar.
J.Tonna
Feb 10th 2011, 11:16
VERY WELL DONE. but we hope to be able to see the results soon.
at the same time a study should be made and all 'imported' honey be classified. i wonder why Maltese honey costs four times imported honey, is imported honey that cheap?
H.J. Grech
Feb 10th 2011, 12:23
The difference is very simple. Pure Maltese honey is produced from particular flowers and on a very limited area of land: 316 sq. km. If you import Italian, French, Spanish, Mexican or any other large country's honey, the area for bees to collect nectar is thousand times larger, the production is larger and so the price goes down. This is simple economics. The rarer the product, the higher the price, like petroleum, gold, platinum, etc, etc.
J.Tonna
Feb 10th 2011, 12:55
Mr Grech, thanks for your explanation. I always had full confidence in Maltese honey, but not so much in imported honey. Tha is why I wrote my contribution.