In the Region of Murcia one of the gastro-artisanal products that has been developed since time immemorial is the cultivation of honey, not in vain, the mild climate of the Region allows the proliferation of all kinds of flowers, one of the bases of one of the industries GastroArtisanal of greater tradition in the Region. We are talking about honey and all its derivatives, one of our great delicacies, appreciated all over the world, especially the honey obtained from the orange blossom. with bees and beekeeping This is what the Murcian family and artisan company has been working on for more than fifty years, Caravaca de la Cruz, Honey El Colmenero de Barranda.
We have spoken with them, especially with their director, Angela Minano, daughter of the founder, from LasGastrocronicas.com for our series of reports on Murcian food artisans, sponsored by the General Directorate of Consumption and Crafts, directed by Sonia Moreno and who belongs to the Ministry of Business, Employment, Universities and Spokesperson.
Honey El Colmenero de Barranda is a small family craft business, located in the Murcian municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, specifically in a beautiful town called railing.
Count on More than 50 years of experience in the beekeeping sector. He was the father of the family Angela Minano, who started the business more than 50 years ago in this sector, and now it is his children who have followed in his footsteps and maintain the traditional family craftsmanship.
When his father retired, he was Angela Minano who took the reins of the business and assumed the direction and responsibility of continuing his beekeeping legacy. Along with his mother, Maria Luisa, they run their sweet and appetizing shop Beehive, where dealing with the public is its forte. His brother Jesus Minano is dedicated more to the action in the apiary.
As they explain to us, "we have always been progressing, trying to improve and adapt to current times but without losing the family and artisan touch that characterizes us".
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Our production methods are completely natural and handmade, preserving in this way, intact those of the honey from the extraction of the hives to the packaging.
The angular stone on which we base ourselves: separate each honey depending on the place in which it was produced, so as not to mix flavors and maintain purity at its maximum degree. Depending on the concentration of flowers and native species, each drop will have its own unique flavor, color and texture; no two harvests are the same. Well, if our products are characterized by something, it is in craftsmanship and quality.
Our honey is homegrown, and therefore brings together all the properties and virtues of this great treasure of nature. From the collection to the packaging and even the labelling, which even today we cut out and stick on by hand the labels, which distinguish us and differentiate us from the others, because we have not even changed that aspect, the whole process being pure and with our hands. In fact, our customers praise and applaud us the homemade and authentic of our products and they ask us not to lose that essence that distinguishes us.
Each year, depending on the crops and where we take the hives, we collect different types of honey, although we always have star honeys in the region such as: rosemary, orange blossom, thyme, lavender, broom, etc.
In addition, we have a fixed apiary in Galicia, being able to bring home-grown honeys to Murcia as exquisite as chestnut, eucalyptus or heather.
Apart from honey, we have other great treasures of nature such as multifloral pollen, royal jelly and propolis in its pure state or in our magnificent preparations in which we mix and combine honey with said derivatives of the bee, but also with foods as healthy as ginger, cinnamon, garlic black etc And what about our artisan propolis tinctures, to which we add to the propolis (ideal for respiratory problems) the properties of such beneficial plants as echinacea, thyme, etc.
A bee needs to make 200,000 flights and 8,000 kilometers, visiting more than a million flowers to make a kilo of honey, so their hard work and the liquid gold they collect must be valued. On the other hand, the multifloral pollen It brings together all the essential amino acids for the body and contains ten different types of vitamins and five essential minerals for the proper functioning of the human body.
The Royal jelly It is manufactured by worker bees and is used to feed the queen mother throughout her life, which is why she is much longer-lived than the others.
And the propolis Bees use it as an antiseptic and for us humans it becomes a great ally in times of colds, throat problems, etc.”
It has been almost ten years since Ángela Miñano took over from her father Ángel in the family business, although since she was little she has always helped in markets and in the workshop, she remembers how a box was lifted to get to the counter of the booth of the All Saints Traditional Market and be able to give to try the long-awaited syrup and pumpkin, which continues to be made every year (except for the current situation that depends on other factors) and which is Chairwoman of said Association that ensures that the oldest market in our Region (more than 100 years of history) is not lost and people can continue attending Plaza de San Pedro in Murcia to "taste" and buy the traditional syrup and pumpkin, well-known sweets such as fig bread, quince meat, saint's bones, heavenly bread, sultana cake, etc. All these sweets made in our wood oven that we only make for those dates. And of course, our homegrown honey and bee products.
Another craft market and that is an emblem for our Region, is the market The Zacatin, in Bullas. Angela is also Secretary of this Association that together with the City Council of Bullas fight to maintain regional crafts, every first Sunday of the month in the morning since 1994 when it began We did not miss our appointment (with the current situation on hold, although it is expected to do so again in October).
In this way, this family of artisan beekeepers will continue to fight for such an exciting world: that of the bee, without losing the essence that distinguishes them and makes them unique.
