BASHKIR HONEY

BASHKIR HONEY, a sweet viscous fragrant substance generated by a honey bee mostly from the nectar of nectariferous plant flowers. A valuable dietary product. The B.h. has a white (melilot, linden, etc), yellow (meadow, sunflower), rich brown (buckwheat) colour. Bashkortostan is the only place on the Earth where forest bee­keeping continues. Honey, produced by the ancient method, is classified as a premium grade honey, because it has been created in a natural environment without human in­ volvement. Wild bee honey has a specific flavor and taste, it contains more beebread (pollen laid in comb cells and covered with honey), glucose and fructose, less saccharose and water. The Bashkir linden honey was awarded Gold  Medals  at  the  World Exhibition in Paris (1900), International Exhibition in Germany (Erfurt, 1961), International Bee­Keeping Congress in Moscow (1971), Rus. Agroindustry Ex­ hibition in Moscow (2001—18). The annual output of commercial B.h. in the Republic amounts to 6—7 thous. t, the bulk thereof being produced by homesteads. In 2016, the Bashkir Honey House was opened in a building of the Akbuzat racecourse stadium; there, about 500 names of B.h. and bee­keeping products, produced in the RB, are represented. Since 2014, in Burzyansky Raion of the RB, the International Ethnic Festival of Bashkir Honey has been held; since 2016, in Bashkiriya National Park (Meleuzovsky Raion of the RB) — the Annual Wilderness Honey Festival. As part of the events, B.h., and honey products fairs are arranged. Annually, the fairs are held in the raions and cities of the Republic Bashkortostan rates 1st for honey production among RF regions (2017).