NORWAY | No1, Summer | No2, Honeydew | No3, Bell Heather | No4, Mountain Heather | No5, Raspberry | No6, Mountain | No7, Multiflora | No8, Forest Berry | No9, Coastal Heather | No10, Heather |

No3, Bell Heather ( Erica cinerera) Honey

Photo: billybonkers

The honey

This honey is from the flower Erica Cinerea and has been harvested in august 2024. The harvesting process is challenging because this flower is blooming at the same time as Calluna vulgaris. Håkon Tjøstheim has his own special solution to extract the two honeys separately.

Bell heather honey is a generous, aromatic and complex honey. Distinctive, with fresh exotic fruitiness with ripe berries and tropical fruit. Notes of sweet cherries and dried fruit. Floral meadowsweet notes. Warm long aftertaste, slightly bitter.

The Beekeeping

Håkon Tjøstheim (87) is a local beekeeper at Karmøy, an island on the west coat of Norway.
Karmøy is characterized by heathlands. The heathlands are barren and treeless with a thin layer of soil over solid rock. In these acidic, nutrient-poor bedrock areas, the vegetation is adapted and unique, and consists of hardy plants that need little nutrition and can withstand periods of both rain and prolonged drought – perfect for heather. The island has various marginal zones intertwined in larger and smaller fields, alternating between nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor soil, between dry and moist zones. Such marginal zones offer a rich biodiversity.

Håkon Tjøstheim has been a beekeeper for nearly 80 years - age is 87. He is a veteran in the Norwegian beekeeping community, and is known for his extensive knowledge of beekeeping. His and his bees' landscape is of the harsh kind, on the edge of Karmøy in the gap towards the Atlantic Ocean. Håkon receives gold in the Norwegian championship in Honey year after year.

Håkon Tjøstheim