A Visit to the Source of an outstanding Italian Chestnut Honey
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the source of a chestnut honey that has characteristics unlike any chestnut honey I’ve tasted before.
It’s a pure Italian chestnut honey produced by Carolina and Stefano, two beekeepers based deep in the Apennine Mountains of central Italy.
It’s new to us—and it’s quite possibly the most distinctive chestnut honey I’ve come across in all my years working with honey.
What Makes This Honey Different
Very Mineral-Rich
When we sent this honey off for testing, the lab reported an electrical conductivity of 2.69—the highest I’ve seen.
Electrical conductivity is a recognised indicator of mineral content in honey, and this result suggests it’s unusually rich and pure. For comparison, a dark honey might typically test around 1.20—but 2.69 is remarkable.
That high mineral reading isn’t just a number — it points to a honey rich in natural elements like potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron. These trace minerals are part of what gives this honey its depth of flavour — and they’re also essential nutrients your body uses every day.
Extremely Pure Monofloral
The same test revealed 99% chestnut pollen—again, the highest level I’ve seen in a chestnut honey. This level of purity is rare and happens only when bees forage almost exclusively on chestnut blossom during its short flowering window.
Travelling to the Apennines
Italy is well-known for its chestnut honey, but finding a beekeeper who makes it to the standard we require has taken some finding.
That changed when I received a sample from Carolina and Stefano last year.
It had all the characteristics of a classic chestnut—deep, slightly bitter, aromatic. But what made we very excited was when I received the lab results back with the high mineral level and purity.
I knew I had to visit them
As it happened, I was already going to Bologna in June for a Honey Sensory Analysis course, which put me in a good position to make the trip.
When the course finished, I caught a train to Rome, picked up a hire car in Rome, and drove two hours south into the Apennine Mountains.
I didn’t know the area at all, but it turned out to be incredibly mountainous, remote, and densely forested with ancient sweet chestnut trees.
I stayed in a quiet mountain town in an old apartment (un appartamento d’epoca) where Caterina, my host, went out of her way to make me feel welcome. The neighbours upstairs kindly let me use their internet so I could send photos and videos back to the office.
Meeting Carolina and Stefano
The following morning, I drove to meet Carolina and Stefano.
From their small warehouse—where they pack the honey and keep a few hives—we set off in their pickup and headed into the mountains.
The Apennine landscape is thick with centuries-old sweet chestnut trees. These forests remain largely untouched—no intensive agriculture, no pesticides—making it an ideal place for bees.
After some time, we turned off the main road onto a rough mountain track, which wound its way further up the mountain side. It eventually ended at a quiet meadow that sat right on the edge of the forest in a place called Val di Comino.
That’s where they’d placed the hives. It was a beautiful, peaceful spot, with the forest rising behind and the open sky above.
The chestnut trees had just begun to bloom, and I stood watching as the bees lifted from the hives and disappeared into the canopy.
Carolina explained that when the chestnut trees bloom, they produce such an abundance of nectar that the bees ignore all other flowers.
This is what leads to such a high purity in the honey—confirmed by our lab results showing 99% chestnut pollen.
She also talked about the importance of location. This meadow, right at the forest’s edge, offers warmth and shelter while putting the hives within immediate reach of the flowering trees.
It’s the kind of fine-tuned positioning that comes from deep knowledge of the local landscape and the bees' behaviour.
The scent of the chestnut nectar in the hives air was striking—warm, rich, unmistakable.
Whilst Carolina and Stefano tended the hives I took some photos and videos then they took me higher up into the mountains to get a real perspective on the region from up high.
Here I could see the mountains stretching as far as the eye could see.
Sadly, I had a flight to catch that evening so was unable to stay to enjoy the hospitality that Carolina and Stefano wanted to offer - anyway next time.
How to buy the Italian Chestnut honey
It was a short visit, but a real privilege to see Carolina and Stefano’s bees working those ancient chestnut trees in such a remote and unspoilt part of the world.
You can find the Chestnut honey here, if you wish to learn more about the flavour and properties and even buy some.