Bingöl Balı

Bingöl Balı is polyfloral honey with an EU protected designation of origin (PDO) from Bingöl province in Eastern Anatolia, Türkiye. The colour runs from light to dark amber; it is sold as honeycomb and as extracted honey. The bees are Anatolian, Caucasian and Meda breeds and their hybrids.

The pollen must include at least one of milkvetch, centaury, St John's wort, clover or immortelle, plus part of a list of over a hundred plants. Water is up to 18 %, sucrose up to 3 g/100 g, glucose plus fructose at least 65 g/100 g, electrical conductivity up to 0.8 mS/cm, diastase at least 15, HMF up to 20 mg/kg and proline at least 450 mg/kg.

All stages happen inside the province. The honey is sold in glass jars up to 1 kg, comb honey in 3–5 kg packs, kept out of direct sun at no more than 20 °C. On plateaus of 1,500–2,000 m the summer is cool and flowering long, so beekeepers migrate: above 1,100 m vegetation thins and apiaries move up to 1,900 m. The province has about 1,700 plant species, 300 of them endemic.

Why this matters to you: this is a honey with set limits and a pollen test; look for the name Bingöl Balı and the logo on the pack.