Honey and jam producers New Aquitaine

In the small village of Lavoux, Martine and Philippe Roy invite you to see the honey house and taste all their products, including, of course, honey with its range of flavours, the latest: royal honey with acacia and honeysuckle, a delight, without forgetting the gingerbread with chocolate, jams and others. Come and taste their honeys for free and share with Martine and Philippe their passion for the world of bees. You will also find all their honeys on all the markets worthy of the name of Poitiers and its surroundings.

Here, the bees are in paradise and reap beautiful fragrances that Peter Esnault transforms under the organic label. Honey, fresh and dry pollen, gingerbread, mead, honey vinegar, propolis, natural beeswax candles, nougat... so many treasures from the hive. He sells on the farm, on the markets of Piégut (Wednesday) and Brantôme (Friday all year round and Tuesday in season), and on farmers' markets. He also supplies AMAP orders. He welcomes visitors by appointment for a tour of his farm and its honey fallow land.

Saltus is a producer and harvester of organic saffron, honey, pollen and propolis. Based in Saint-Martin-d'Arrossa, this family-run business is a benchmark in saffron cultivation, with around a hundred beehives stocked with black bees. Saltus is also the name of a mid-mountain area on the edge of cultivated land. It's an area rich in species and natural processes, where saffron cultivation is not a traditional practice, even though this precious spice is renowned at the world's finest tables.

Api-Melli is a beekeeping operation. A beekeeper since 2008, Thierry Francke will explain how to maintain a hive (he has 300 in production and 200 for fertilization), how to feed the bees in winter, climate-related issues, extraction and more. You'll be able to taste a range of honeys, from the most liquid to the creamiest. Heather, chestnut, sunflower, acacia... Each has its own distinctive taste. Honeys, pollen, royal jelly, gingerbread, nougat and other sweets can be found in the store and at retailers in Dax and Hastingues.

Set high on the hillsides, the estate combines a historic building with a beautiful wooded workshop-boutique. It's here that the gourmet products of this beekeeping enterprise are imagined, concocted, jarred and labeled. In the boutique: honeys, honey sweets, honey candies and cosmetics from this family-run business, which places quality, taste and traceability at the heart of its requirements. A boutique in Bordeaux, another in Lille, it works! Their star products include honey and poppy candies and lemon honey sweets.

Agnès concocts jams cooked the old-fashioned way in copper cauldrons, but that's not all! In addition to her products, you can sample her walnut cakes, fruit jellies made with farm fruit and other specialties such as her crumble, on reservation. In her charming boutique, you'll find pumpkin and ginger soup, chestnut soup and Saint-Firmin soup, not to mention a wide selection of jams in a variety of original flavors. Summer vegetable sales

Thomas Mollet and Lénaïc Lecrénais continue to write the story of Les Ruchers du Born, a farm that has been producing honey since 1960! Accompanied by Odile and Clémence, they raise 900 to 1,000 colonies of bees, encouraging their natural development. To achieve this, they practice transhumant beekeeping, moving the hives several times a year to keep pace with the bees and the flowers. Les Ruchers du Born's Landes honeys are sold on site or online. Tasting, self-guided tour of the bee farm, treasure hunt for children, picnic area...

The David family has been producing honey for several generations. The small Porte des Landes apiary is located around Poussignac and does not practice transhumance. It is at the edge of the forest and in the surrounding wasteland that the bees search for the nectar that will give the honey its aroma. This traditional, ancestral and natural beekeeping method produces a range of delicate, fruity honeys. Today, Marie-Claude David is the beekeeper.

Beekeeper Philippe Labay and his bees produce a fine range of honeys. His beekeeping operation was set up in a special wildlife conservation area on the edge of the Landes forest. Most of the honey is produced on fallow land, woods and natural clearings, biotopes that offer generous botanical diversity and a wealth of pollen and nectar for the bees. You'll find pure honeys on site, with no added honeys from elsewhere...

La Féerie Gourmande takes your senses on a journey through a fun tour where, through a museum space, you will learn about the origin and history of chocolate, confectionery and jams. The exhibition area will allow you to admire gigantic sugar and chocolate sculptures. Depending on the workshop's production schedule, you can also attend a demonstration and observe the work of Francis Miot. This master confectioner, who has been awarded many prestigious prizes, has a unique know-how. The House of Francis Miot celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2020.

One of the region's leading honey producers. Jean-Pierre Troia, a beekeeper, sells his range of honeys direct, in a number of local producers' stores and at markets. He raises his bees and sets up his apiaries along and around the Avance river. He makes his honey just with the nectar of the flowers his workers gather, for which he is truly passionate. His collection includes acacia, borage, heather, chestnut, all-flower and forest honeys, as well as a creamy breakfast honey.

Hervé Girard, a beekeeper, welcomes you to his honey house in a traditional Poitou farmhouse built of stone and galuche. A self-taught enthusiast since the age of 10, he owns around 100 hives. He'll be delighted to tell you all about his work, the fascinating life of bees, the properties of pollen, and to let you taste his honeys (sunflower, acacia, spring, all flowers), pastilles and gums. You'll also discover the classic and animal-shaped candles he makes with beeswax.

Catherine and Michel Blassel, beekeepers for 15 years, produce an organic mountain honey that has been elected the Golden New Aquitaine Flavour 2017. This beekeeping company produces honey and by-products based on pollens from classic or less classic plant species such as lime trees, dandelion and bramble. From these beehives, whose products are hand-picked to ensure the bees' well-being, they derive a wealth of good things: nougat, gingerbread, mead, soaps, pollen, royal jelly and propolis.

Hélène's hives are located on the edge of the Landes forest. If you wish to go there, you will be able to admire at this passionate beekeeper's place old models of hives, equipment of beekeeping of former times, which is very interesting. The points of sale: Lège-Cap-Ferret, Lacanau Océan, Lacanau Ville, Maubuisson, Carcans, Hourtin, Vendays. The honey of bourdaine obtained the silver medal in the Contest of the honeys of Aquitaine in 2007.

Dandelion, rose or fir jam, zucchini spread, melon syrup... Christine creates original combinations of flavors for unprecedented sweet treats! Drawing on her farm's varied but unused fruit and vegetables, she decided to transform them. She adds berries and flowers from her own harvests, and products selected from neighboring producers. Working in the traditional way, she makes delicious jams that she sells in local stores and at farmers' markets.

For the past ten years, Isabelle and Dominique have been passionately looking after their 50 hives scattered throughout the Médoc. This couple produces acacia honey and honey from various Médoc flowers such as heather. It is a small family business that produces 700 kg of honey per year. The most curious will be delighted to discover a glass hive that will explain how bees produce honey. You will find their products on direct sale, on the local markets and in some delicatessens.

Want to know more about bees and the delicious nectar they make? Go to the honey house at Le Theil. Michel Blassel gives tours of his bee farm to groups, four afternoons a week in summer. He also welcomes trainees. He is part of the Bienvenue à la Ferme network. At the Miellerie du Theil, he harvests honey and pollen, but he also makes nougat. After the explanations, a tasting is planned during the guided tours. The products are sold on the spot and at the tourist office of Ahun.

Paul Thirion, originally from the Paris region, got hooked on honey by making hives when he was a Compagnon du devoir. He left for Chile and then Italy to discover the profession of beekeeper on a large scale. He then arrived in Périgord and set up his first hives. Today he has 400 and he plans to increase this number to 500. Why black honey? Simply because the local bee is the black bee. The honey production is varied: spring flowers, Erica heather, borage, arbutus, callune, verbena, etc.

Benoit Serre, passionate about bees, has been a beekeeper since 2013. Today, there are 140 hives working for the Rucher du Marandou. He offers a wide range of honeys: spring honey, acacia honey, linden honey, chestnut honey ... You can visit the honey house, discover the world of bees through an exhibition and glass hives and taste 100% natural honey. You can buy honey and mead at the apiary or in about fifty sales outlets in the department.