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HOW IT BEGAN
The island of Malta was originally called Melita. Many scholars believe that this name originated from the word Mel (Honey) for which the island was already well known.
When Anthony Calleja took up the ancient art of bee keeping in 1925, he could not have imagined that this hobby could grow and become part of his son's and grandson's life too!
Today Calleja Bros Ltd. is an independent family business, amongst other things renowned for the excellent Maltese Honey it produces, packs and distributes. The Apiary is situated in a rural part of Malta, within a valley called "Wied il-Ghasel" which literally means "Valley of Honey". |
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HOW HONEY IS MADE
Bees draw up nectar from the flower and store it in their honey sacs. Conversion into honey then starts immediately. It takes place in 2 stages - firstly, fermentation (caused by enzymes in the nectar and enzymes extracted from pharyngeal glands of the bees) and secondly, evaporation of any excess moisture. Evaporation of excess moisture is achieved by the worker bee in the hive, which can tell instinctively if the honey has the correct texture - a concentration of about 60% sugar. She then places it in the cells, fans her wings over it, getting rid of more excess moisture, untill there is a sugar concentration of about 80%. The last job is to seal the cell with wax so that the honey will keep indefinitely.
EXTRACTING AND PROCESSING THE HONEY
The honey comb is extracted from the hives, unsealed and placed in a Honey Extractor that rotates rapidly so that the honey oozes out of the honeycomb cells. This method is called 'the cold extraction' and helps preserve the natural qualities of the honey. The honey is then filtered from pieces of wax and preserved in stainless steel tanks ready for packing.
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