Honey and jam producers Languedoc Roussillon

L'Hôtel du Pont Vieux is not only a charming hotel, ideally located for enjoying the wonders of the medieval city of Carcassonne. It is also committed to promoting good regional products, and has a grocery corner. This is where you'll find Catherine's wonderful jams, under the name "Confitures de la cité". While the packaging is elegant, don't hesitate to remove the lid to taste them: salted butter caramel, apple jelly with spices, kiwi from Cuxac d'Aude... with a steady stream of new flavors.

Elfe d'aquí is Sylvie and her traditional or new jams and preserves, of the seasons, made with local fruits, plants and flowers. We love her elderberry or dandelion flower jellies, the touch of thyme, rosemary or wild thyme that perfume her jams. If she practices wild harvesting, she also obtains from local producers, in sweet wines for example, for her muscat or banyuls confits. And its banana or mango jams are flavoured with a local ingredient all the same? Poetry in a jar.

A la Ruche is the passion of good taste from father to son for 30 years. The old school turned shop is a beautiful Ali Baba's cave where Vincent will make you discover a wide range of honeys and about fifteen products derived from honey: vinegar, mead, spread... The gingerbread made and baked on the spot every day is a real treat. It can be tasted, just like the nougatines or the fruit juices, on the terrace, in the shade of the mulberry tree, on the very pretty Place de l'Ecole in the heart of this astonishing medieval village which remains lively in summer and winter.

This grouping of 14 honey producers from the department is a great idea. In turn, the co-operators come to run the shop in this brand new building where the honeys of our department are on sale. Chestnut, rhododendron, thyme, garrigue honey, the list is long. But much more than a simple point of sale, a guided tour will make you aware of the beekeeping techniques from the extraction of honey to the potting and the role of bees for our life on earth.

These beekeepers practice transhumance over lavender fields, chestnut and acacia forests, garrigues and causses, offering a wide range of locally-produced organic honeys. Thirteen varieties of honey and a wide range of products are on offer: honey gingerbread, mead, honey nougat, honey sweets, honey vinegar, propolis, beeswax... The honey house also boasts a large production of royal jelly.

This associative shop brings together producers and craftsmen who offer ceramics, fabric creations, but also a wide range of delicacies: biscuits, honeys, pâtés, syrups, jams, herbal teas and pélardons are displayed in the shop, which is run in turn by the producers. A small restaurant, based on local products on sale, allows you to taste the specialities of the region on the spot through local menus or plates. A nice showcase of Lozerian know-how

Gisèle and Jean-Claude Ponsonnaille look after more than 300 hives. During the summer season, these passionate beekeepers demonstrate all the stages of honey extraction. Honey is also the raw material for many specialities such as cookies, nougat, traditional gingerbread or the unusual caramiel, a delicious spread. In season, the guided tour of the honey house is completed by a video before tasting in the beautiful vaulted room, where you can find many other local products in addition to home-made products.

From the fauna and flora of the garrigues to the tasting of honeys through the work of the bees, you can discover in Saint-Gély, a beekeeping operation that works exclusively with solar energy. On the farm, you will discover 12 to 14 different varieties of honey (Agréé mountain honey, forest honey, Cévennes honey, Causses honey, garrigue honey, thyme honey, rosemary honey, lavender honey, chestnut tree honey, white heather honey, acacia honey), royal jelly, gingerbread and honey sweets.

This bee farm, created in 1960 by Charles Rouquette, became one of the most important in the region in the 1980s. Throughout the year, you can taste all the products of the hive: honey in all sauces (thyme, lavender, thistle, chestnut, rosemary), royal jelly, gingerbread, honey, honey vinegar, nougats... Charles Rouquette also organizes visits lasting 1h30 to discover the activity of beekeeping, it ends with a tasting.

A few steps from the Orgues d'Ille site, Rayon d'Or is truly the kingdom of honey. The fruit of the harvest of 25 beekeepers, honey is available here in about twenty varieties and some by-products such as its famous gingerbread, the famous nonnettes (apricot, raspberry and blueberry), gourmet sweets (thyme and liquorice honey gums or honey and eucalyptus), but also Catalan nougats and tourons without forgetting honey hypocras and finally more and more organic products. Visits to the honey house are by reservation, all year round.

Rucher de l'Ours was founded in 1975. Today, Philippe Weibel runs 300 hives in the Pyrenees, producing around 10 tonnes of a wide variety of honeys every year. Within a 100 km radius of the honey house, the bees find a wide variety of resources in a pollution-free environment. Among the products on offer here are some twenty honeys, such as dandelion honey, with its pronounced taste slightly attenuated by the taste of wild cherry, very bitter arbutus honey, woodruff honey...

Catherine's jams have been delighting visitors to the Hôtel du Pont Vieux for some years now, and now that they've opened the grocery store, a whole space is dedicated to gourmet delights! L'Echoppe, located right next to the hotel, not only sells Les Confitures de la Cité®, but also wines, charcuterie, cheeses, preserves and cookies, mainly from the region. As for jams, there's always the staple: salted butter caramel, apple jelly with spices, kiwi from Cuxac d'Aude... and new products regularly!

They have been close to bees for twenty years. The friendly Oulès couple today has 220 hives, which is more than ten million winged and very dedicated workers who work to transform the nectar and the honeydew of plants in honey of scrubland, flowers of sunflower, mountain, rosemary, chestnust tree, bush, heather and many other perfumes. They are all character honey. Carole and Armand also sell gingerbreads, honey sweets, hazelnut confits, almond comfit with honey, as well as chestnut cream.

La Miellerie des Clauses isn't just a producer's store, it's also an invitation to discover the life of bees through the eyes of passionate beekeepers. Through an observatory, Laurent explains the life of bees in a specially dedicated workshop, and the beekeeper won't hesitate to open a hive full of bees, which you can observe in complete safety behind a bay window. Our production, which is being converted to organic farming, regularly wins awards in competitions. Summer workshops for young and old.

Welcome to Bernard and Anne-Lise, passionate beekeepers at Domaine de Villeneuve. Their tempting products include a wide range of honeys, gingerbread, mead, wax and honey vinegar. The choice is endless among the fifteen honeys on offer for sale (and regularly for tasting). From May to August, take advantage of free open days on the last Sunday of the month to discover the fascinating world of bees and the honey house. The estate is also renowned for its wines: a promising visit that will appeal to many wine lovers.

Alain Merit evolves in his universe made of bees and honey. It is with know-how and passion that he makes many delicious products derived from this gold: like nougat, mead, a delicious gingerbread, and of course a wide variety of honeys. By appointment, it is possible to visit the honey house and the hives in complete safety. He will tell you about his farm, the importance of such an ecosystem and the methods of production. It is a pleasure for the curious and the greedy and no doubt that it will please the little ones!

Le Clos de la reine is an artisanal operation of friendly beekeepers who offer a variety of delicious honeys. One comes here to buy its jars of treasures of the hive directly from the producers. You can enjoy tastings, observe bees at work in the hive on the field and guided tours are available. Among the honeys produced here, you can taste nectar from Vic, garrigue honey, forest honey, rosemary honey, acacia honey, chestnut honey or oak honey. Propolis-based products and royal jelly are also offered.

As in Bashung's song, Thomas is a happy farmer, and he claims it. He has 240 hives spread throughout the department in order to experience the influences of the sea or the mountains. He obtains very varied honeys: lavender, garrigue, rhododendron, maquis, etc. The cold extraction with the centrifuge allows to keep all the virtues and the best aromas. Let's not forget the production of honey vinegar, propolis or the inevitable gingerbread. Many beautiful things to discover and taste.

In Fenouillet, one of the most beautiful villages of the department, at an altitude of 550 metres, Le Rucher de Flora is a family farm with 250 beehives. Stéphanie and Frédéric practice transhumant beekeeping, that is to say that they move their hives according to the flowering season to obtain diversified honeys. During a visit, you will discover a wide variety of honeys, but also a gingerbread whose manufacture is inspired by an ancestral recipe called "Couque de Dijon". Come and meet them, they are fascinating!

In the heart of the old village of Eyne, Amandine and Aurélien welcome you to their little shop in the honey house. You will of course find their honeys (our preference goes to the mountain honey - rhododendron) and the products of the hive: propolis, soap, comb honey... Very committed to the environment, they will tell you why it is necessary to save the bees and stop using pesticides at all costs. Less resistant than militant, this couple in love with the region (the valley of Eyne is one of the most beautiful of the Pyrenees), travels the markets of the region.