Honey and jam producers Côte Aquitaine

In collaboration with Patrick Fouquet, master jam maker world champion 2018, Janick Paytra launches in his turn in the making of artisanal jams. He participates for the first time in 2019 in the Confituriades and obtains the gold medal of the Order of Master Jammakers. Janick prepares his jams in his workshop/shop and sources as much as possible in short circuit: mirabelle plums from his village, strawberries from Dordogne, apricots from Roussillon, kiwis from Lot-et-Garonne... A nice souvenir to bring back from Saint-Emilion, to change the wine!

Professional beekeepers with recognized expertise, Jean-Claude and Corine Salles perpetuate a traditional art by transhumantly moving their hives from the Basque mountains to the hillsides of Béarn, harvesting true "crus de la nature", representing floral diversity. At their honey house, they extract, select and refine honeys for bouquets ranging from the sweetest - acacia-horsetail flowers - to the most distinctive, chestnut, and also make heather honey gingerbread and artisanal jams according to the traditional recipes of Amatxi (Basque for grandmother).

Why not taste the honey of the Landes forest? With its idyllic location, the honey house is in the middle of a pine forest surrounded by heather. The apiaries are spread out between the forest of the Haute-Lande and the mountains of the Pyrenees, on a naturally abundant and preserved vegetation. The bees first gather in the acacia woods in the Gironde, then disperse to harvest a wonderful bourdaine honey in the humid areas of the Landes forest, while others gather chestnut or lime flowers in the Pyrenees.

Maison Francis Miot has excelled in high-end jams for 30 years (best jam maker in France and three-time world jam champion, ranked hors concours), as well as in chocolates and confectionery. In this store, as in others, originality and quality are the order of the day. The chocolates are essentially of São Tomé e Príncipe origin, where they have a solidarity trade plantation. And the award-winning cane sugar, plum and 3 red fruit jams. There's also a savoury range with tapenades, compote and chutneys.

In the store of the Harizkazuia Farm, you can buy the products of the house, all kinds of honeys of course: chestnut honey, acacia honey, honey with 2 flowers, borage honey, Erika heather honey, Espelette pepper honey, honey and salt, cinnamon honey, pollen, propolis, with recipes, but also candles, sweets, soaps, etc. And it is important to know that all the products come from local, wild and spontaneous flowerings, thus respecting the conditions necessary to the respect of the specifications of the organic beekeeping.

The story of " Confitures de Haute Soule " begins in Biarritz at the pastry shop of the Docks. Gilles and Sophie have the idea to transform the fruits intended for the pastry shop into jam. Immediate success. When they moved to Haute Soule, they developed their know-how in the traditional way of making jam. 30 different fruit flavors are declined in jams. Fruits of the orchard and the forest and the inevitable strawberries, black cherries, apricots, figs...

Just a stone's throw from the cathedral, this boutique-museum is the brainchild of Jacques Salles, a passionate beekeeper since 1988. Loreztia means "sweet flowers" in Basque. A place of exchange, where you can discover a free ethnographic space on the theme of "man and the bee in the Basque country, over the centuries", taste the company's products, and buy those you like at "direct from the workshop" prices. From flower to fruit, the cultivation and exploitation of honey is a whole art of living at the service of sweet gastronomy.

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.

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...

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.