Montalcino, for those who have visited, is CITTA’ DEL MIELE (amongst other things) and we are about to embark on our own honey adventure. At the modest cost of 85 Euros per family, last night our first five families were delivered to the estate. In each family there are over forty thousand members, each with its own queen. The queen lays circa 2.000 eggs a day…

Marco chose a perfect spot for the hives. It is on a small terrace on a slope, overlooking the valley which will give the bees full range and a wide choice of plants. It is sheltered from north winds, esconced between the woods and two of our vineyards. The dry-stone wall behind the hives will offer them protection and it should be nice and warm for them. We do not use any pesticides on our vineyards so they are far from any harmful crops.

Hubert Ciacci, one of Montalcino’s most famous bee-keepers, has agreed to follow Marco in this new experience. We are terrifically lucky to have his advice and supervision and he was there last night when the families were installed in their new homes. Hubert’s family have been making honey for three generations. He also has a Brunello estate, Villa I Cipressi, with three and a half hectares of vineyards, more or less the same size as Il Palazzone. http://www.villacipressi.it

We expect each family to produce eventually 30-50 kg of honey every year. We have acacia, chestnut trees and innumerable fruit trees on the property as well as all the wildflowers in the woods. Our/their first honey will be from nectar from wherever they choose to go: miele millefiori.

I doubt we will be doing a bee sponsorship programme (like our olive tree ownership project Club 100) but I am already thinking about the label….