Provence honey has earned its fame ever since the 15th century.
It is then that it came to increase greatly in production, thanks to the request of Italian merchants, who considered it "the best of all good honeys".
Its quality and prestige remain intact to the extent that it long withstood massive sugar consumption.
It was during the 20th century that honey harvested in the areas of Grasse, Brignoles, Alpes provençales, the Mont Ventoux or Barcelonnette built its reputation for quality which enabled it to obtain the "IGP", in 2005.
For example, in the mountain of Lure, the family apiary stems from a long tradition.
It provided additional income, and was the only resource to sweeten.

Until the middle of the 20th century, beehives were built in hollow tree-trunks – the bruscs – and their number varied depending on the swarms harvested in spring, since each honey harvest killed the bees.
The division of labor in each family was identical.
 The man was in charge of the brusc and also had to get the honey out, while the woman extracted these from the honeycombs, using the heat of the hearth.
It was an all flowers honey, used to sweeten drinks, make cakes, cook nougat, candy fruits or achieve ointments.
The Lure drug-merchants stirred beeswax and honey into their drug mixture.
The wax was also used to polish furniture, its surplus sold to joiners and cabinet-makers, or to make candles or votive candles.
Beekeeping evolved throughout the twenties with the cultivation of lavender and wild lavandin.
Then the progressive "bruscs" were progressively replaced by beehives in the thirties and these were widely used for the following decade.
From then on, transhumance of the beehives in the lavender fields had become one of the main features of Provençale beekeeping.
Those displacements were initially made by local producers, thanks to a trailer harnessed to the coach linking Forcalquier to Banon and serving Lardiers, the Hospitalet and Saumane.
This behaviour was adopted by beekeepers from the Vaucluse, who organized their hive displacements by carts to the Basses-Alpes
Provence honey has earned its fame ever since the 15th century. It is then that it came to increase greatly in production, thanks to the request of Italian merchants, who considered it "the best of all good honeys". Its quality and prestige remain intact to the extent that it long withstood massive sugar consumption. It was during the 20th century that honey harvested in the areas of Grasse, Brignoles, Alpes provençales, the Mont Ventoux or Barcelonnette built its reputation for quality which enabled it to obtain the "IGP", in 2005. For example, in the mountain of Lure, the family apiary stems from a long tradition. It provided additional income, and was the only resource to sweeten.
Until the middle of the 20th century, beehives were built in hollow tree-trunks – the bruscs – and their number varied depending on the swarms harvested in spring, since each honey harvest killed the bees. The division of labor in each family was identical.  The man was in charge of the brusc and also had to get the honey out, while the woman extracted these from the honeycombs, using the heat of the hearth. It was an all flowers honey, used to sweeten drinks, make cakes, cook nougat, candy fruits or achieve ointments. The Lure drug-merchants stirred beeswax and honey into their drug mixture. The wax was also used to polish furniture, its surplus sold to joiners and cabinet-makers, or to make candles or votive candles.Beekeeping evolved throughout the twenties with the cultivation of lavender and wild lavandin. Then the progressive "bruscs" were progressively replaced by beehives in the thirties and these were widely used for the following decade. From then on, transhumance of the beehives in the lavender fields had become one of the main features of Provençale beekeeping. Those displacements were initially made by local producers, thanks to a trailer harnessed to the coach linking Forcalquier to Banon and serving Lardiers, the Hospitalet and Saumane. This behaviour was adopted by beekeepers from the Vaucluse, who organized their hive displacements by carts to the Basses-Alpes
Provence Honey