There are more than 170 farms of the “Gallo Rosso” association that practice beekeeping and produce the nectar which is served to farm guests during the morning peasant breakfasts.
They renamed it the liquid gold of South Tyrol. We are talking about honey which for millennia has represented the only sugary food available. Today the production of this extraordinary gift of nature is at risk just as bees are at risk of extinction due to pollution, climate change and the use of pesticides in agriculture.
This is also why in 2017 the United Nations General Assembly established World Bee Day. And May 20 was chosen as an emblematic date to commemorate the birth of the Slovenian beekeeper Anton Jansa (1734-1773), pioneer of modern beekeeping techniques.
The day chosen to celebrate World Bee Day is May 20th
World Bee Day (May 20th, falling on a Monday this year) was established to bring the importance of bees and all pollinators in general to the attention of citizens, the media and politicians. Among pollinators, the species of the Apis genus are the most numerous: over 20 thousand worldwide, most of which are wild.
The most popular is the domestic bee, scientific name Apis mellifera, known throughout the world as the Italian bee. The value of this species, native to Europe, Asia and Africa (in the same areas where ancient civilizations arose), is linked not only to the pollination service but also to the production of honey, wax, propolis and Royal jelly.
Bee survival is critical for pollination.
The survival and proliferation of bees are essential to continue having flowers, trees and fruit. Thanks to their leading role in pollination, they guarantee the maintenance of biodiversity and the life cycle of plants, whether wild or cultivated.
Most plants of agricultural interest require insects for pollination, therefore, in the rural context of Alto Adige farms, bees are decisive.
Furthermore, bees are equally important for the production of honey, a valuable food with notable organoleptic properties. It is a product that requires a lot of care: bees must live in apiaries in controlled conditions, such as temperature, exposure and tranquility to produce honey in quantity and quality.
In Alto Adige there are 170 farms that practice beekeeping and produce honey
In Alto Adige there are more than 170 Gallo Rosso farms that practice beekeeping, producing excellent honey which is sold in the shops of the farms themselves and served in the rich peasant breakfasts for guests.
On these farms, guests can discover and learn about the techniques and methods of managing a bee farm, as well as observing the extraction of honey and the bees at work.
There are three South Tyrolean farms that produce honey with the Red Rooster brand and strict quality criteria: the Kammerhof in Lana, the Hieslerhof in Avelengo and the Tschauphof in Montagna.
The Kammerhof farm in Lana offers guided tours and excursions among the beehives
The Kammerhof farm in Lana, which is also part of the Gallo Rosso circuit for hospitality, offers guided tours and excursions to the apiaries, with information on bees and the meaning of the beekeeping profession.
Different qualities of honey, pollen, comb honey, propolis come from the Kammerhof hives, while beeswax is used to make wax-soaked cloths, waxed sheets for compresses and candles.
Kammerhof honey is extracted from the honeycomb at room temperature, using a special centrifuge called a “honey extractor”, to keep the substances it contains unchanged. The Kammerhof bee colonies are kept exclusively in Alto Adige, but, to obtain different qualities of honey (wildflower, forest, chestnut, rhododendron, creamy), they are transported to various areas of Alto Adige and at different altitudes.
Gallo Rosso’s quality criteria for the “honey” product category are very strict, guaranteeing excellent quality: the honey must be completely natural, the harvest must take place in a workmanlike manner, the distribution must be exclusively in glass jars and the search for nectar must take place exclusively in South Tyrol.
Over 1,600 South Tyrolean farms of the “Red Rooster” association
“Red Rooster” is the name of the brand that has promoted and encouraged the activity of over 1,600 agritourisms in Alto Adige since 1998 and which belongs to the Union of South Tyrolean Farmers and Farmers (Südtiroler Bauernbund). Since its origins, the main purpose of Gallo Rosso has been to support the farmers of the farms in the development of activities to complement agriculture. The philosophy of the Red Rooster Association is “to bring people closer to the lifestyle of South Tyrolean farmers.” The objective of this project is on the one hand to open up new sources of income to South Tyrolean farmers and on the other to give consumers the opportunity to get to know the rural world of South Tyrol.
The classification of farms that offer accommodation (Farm holidays in Alto Adige) is organized into flowers, from 2 to 5. The higher the number of flowers, the more criteria the structure meets. Furthermore, through high quality standards and very strict criteria, the Association supports the work of over 120 farms that are dedicated to the production of genuine gastronomic products (Sapori del maso), peasant catering, or authentic craftsmanship (Farmer craftsmanship). The last pillar born in 2023 is the Gallo Rosso cooking school.
Raise your glasses. Prosit! (GIUSEPPE CASAGRANDE
Thanks for reading this article…
For 15 years we have been offering free information to defend the agricultural supply chain and small producers and it has never had public funding. The Coronavirus pandemic affects us too. The work we do has a significant economic cost and private advertising, in this period, is simply reduced and no longer able to support the costs.
For this reason we ask readers, we hope they appreciate us, to give us a small contribution based on their possibilities. Even a small support, multiplied by tens of thousands of readers, can become Important.
You can make your contribution with PayPal which you find alongside. Or you can also make a bank transfer to this Iban IT 94E0301503200000006351299 made out to Francesco Turri
