Every holiday has its star food. Whether its Easter with chocolate eggs, or potato latkes and donuts during Hanukah, or Ramadan’s delicious Qatayef pastry, there is always a special food that is synonymous with a holiday.
And honey claims lead billing during the Jewish high holidays.
A bowl of honey is a traditional ‘dip’ eaten throughout the Jewish holiday period – eaten in hope of a sweet new year. Dipping apples in the honey reminds us just how sweet life can and hopefully will be in the coming year. Abbie Rosner, author of “Breaking Bread in the Galilee, cites Nogah Reuveni, one of the pioneering scholars of the Holy Land’s biblical landscape, who observed that of all the seven species, one is not a plant or plant product. Most of us might think of honey as coming from a beehive, but actually, it can refer to any sweet syrup made from boiled-down fruit. Reuveni thought that honey made from dates, known as Silan, was the seventh specimen which would make it consistent with the other products on the list. Silan is a popular authentic type of syrup that is quite similar to honey, and considered the authentic sweet Holy Land syrup.
With the late summer harvest now in full swing (one can easily enjoy a day out picking apples, pomegranates, peaches, grapes and more), tasting honey is also a late summer ritual in this biblical landscape. The Israel Honey Board is now holding its annual Honey Festival (August 22 through September 27) and if you are on a tour to Israel or the Palestinian Territories you can easily participate in the many kid-friendly activities that are underway throughout the region.
Honey manufacturing visitor centers focusing are offering a variety of fascinating activities focusing on the world of bees and honey, meeting with beekeepers, honey tastings, and learning about the importance of bees pollinating flowers in order to make fruit and vegetable plant food. Bees are critically important to the world, not only for the honey they product but because of their participation in pollination.
Below you’ll find a listing of several honey making visitor centers offering festival-related activities and tastings. Call before you go to find out the hours of operation and the exact times and costs for any special activities that are going on during the festival.
Galilee and the North
Kibbutz Shamir – Apiary of the Galilee Kibbutz Shamir
Within this visitor center you can watch the activities of the bees and the queen bee through the glass. Visitors learn about the health qualities and enjoy tasting the finest products directly from the source. A nice film on the life of bees and how all the hive products are produced including honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen (pollen), and bee venom production process. In addition to the apiary the center also produces olives.
Phone: 04-6947826046947826
Manot
Venus Reuben beekeeping since 1984 celebrates 30 years of service. Today, 650 Honey Reuben and another 300 hives and queens increase the powder, making the Galilee Flowers Beehive particularly large breeding farm.
There is a visitor center which tells varied activities on the world of bees, honey and more. Beehives tour includes the movie “Sweet Honey Queen to” explain the world of bees, self harvesting experience, viewing glass hive bee activity, “beehive kids’ craft corner with corner with wax sculptures, costumes, reading and research. “The Time Tunnel” – represents a unique way to teach kids about bees and honey since then includes the stories of the Bible.
Phone: 0544967420
Pek’in – Orchard Hive Pekiin
Founded by Jamal price Peqi’in village in 1977. Hir invites families and children enjoy a unique combination of rural tourism in nature Druze variety of educational activities and knowledge of the world of the bee. Visitors will learn about the process of honey production, the sundials and the history of the village Peqi’in Druze community.
Beehives, Workshop candles by rolling slabs crude beeswax special thread, decorative candles with colored sequins and pins. In addition, basket weaving can join to fill bottles with colored sand, petting zoo and spend petting zoo, camel riding, BBQ picnic benches and more.
Phone: 052-2477897
Machman im Honey
Machmanim was established in 1980 as a small apiary Galilee. Beehives and bees are handled carefully, allowing them to collect high-quality honey which come from within the flower nectar found in nature. You can come and visit the beehives and hear the ‘Natural Therapy’ healing products bees, pollen, propolis, bee venom therapy, honeycomb, and more and enjoy activities such as creating beeswax candles decorated and other workshops.
Tour “Through the Bible to nature”, a biblical village eco tour that combines visiting beehives, activities and preparation respecting nature: whole wheat bread, natural honey preparation of milk, tahini and sesame, white, hyssop herb tea. Visitors tour the observatory Michmanim, Khan stone, magnificent views, tour and tasting beds perfume ancient cuisine flavors.
Phone: 04-9881337, 052-2476768, Website: www.michmanim.co.il
Moshav Shedmot Devora –Tabor bee
Renowned Beekeeper Boaz participated in the 2014 in the international competition in Canada earning third place in the world. During “Honey Festival”, visitors are invited to watch a movie about the competition, children will enjoy being made up as a bee and other including a tour of the site. guidance on how to prepare honey and the learning about the importance of nature. Bees visit the observatory and increase patrol in silk cocoons thousands (only in Israel). Children enjoy a variety of creative activities such as preparing a chocolate honey, candle wax, plaster decoration, sign and cape bee room, living area with the option of hand-feeding pygmy goats and a giant bee going around among the guests. Honey Festival will be possible during the trip by tractor and wagon (extra charge).
Phone: 04-6769598, 050-5637645 Website: www.dvorat-hatavor.co.il
Alon Hagalil – Alon Ophir Apiary
The visit to this center in the northern Galilee includes a movie on the world of bees. Watch the bees inside the beehive glass, how they make the honey, meet the beekeeper and learn about the various products of the hive. Preparation of candle wax, tastings and more.
Who want to be able to tour the winery and taste the next Yiftachel wines.
Phone: Zvika 052-2824644 Website: www.yfw.co.il
Emek Hefer Apiary
View a short film for the whole family to our wonderful world of bees, the structure of the hive, collecting nectar to make honey and the importance health person, workshops for children on the subject of bees, honey and blossom, and a lecture accompanied by slides for adults, meeting area with a beekeeper apiary Emek Hefer to open a hive and demonstrate his work.
Factory store tasting of a selection of honeys, pollen (pollen), royal jelly and more. A tour of the factory and packaging production lines is also available.
Phone: 04-6370105Web-site-hefer.com/ http://www.emek
Central Israel
Kfar Bilu A – Inter Bee Farm Village
Lin’s Farm is a family farm that has been more than thirty years the bees are part of the family. Dedication in taking care of bees and honey production respondents Love-natural, pure, delicious and nutritious. To foster economic approximately 1000 hives around the country, where the economy shop with a natural delicacies produced in Lynn bees and honey are based on quality raw materials.
Visitors learn about the similarities and differences between the bee family man, dressed in work clothes with the help of bee keepers and games, creative activities, watch video and learn about glass hive field work, the communication between the bees, the queen, active and males.
Phone: 0542207965Website:www.linfarm.co.il
Kfar Chabad – 0333339606367
South (depending on the security situation)
Kibbutz Yad Mordecai –House of Honey and the Bee – Sweet experience in Kibbutz Yad Mordechai
Yad Mordechai Apiary was established in 1936 and is now the largest apiary in Israel, numbering about 5,000 hives. Visit Honey and Bee House “is a showcase for the world of bees, hive and the routine work of beekeepers. Visit suitable for all the family and includes: Opening honeycomb behind a glass wall, meeting with beekeepers demonstrate their work, display a hive of glass illustrates everything that was happening in the hives, watching a movie depicting the honey production and operation of honey harvesting, baking honey cakes, tasting different kinds of honey, creating candles beeswax, explanations of the bees in the hive family structure, living in it, explanations of health products that are produced from the hive, royal jelly, propolis, pollen, and more. Instead shop for Honeycomb.
The activities are part of an integrated card activity tourist resorts Yad Mordechai (driving a tractor and wagon, “a grouping of time” type recovery tank battle site and watching the milking barn).
Reservations: 08-6720559, 052-3923104 Website: www.ym-tayarut.co.il
052223923104
Moshav Ein Yahav – Porat apiary honey from the Desert
When love bees and desert growing art she met a charming attraction Prairie “art and agriculture meet in the desert” – a world of bees, colony formation presentation in memory of holidays Porat, founder session and meeting with artwork of Chacha Porat, including the works of bronze, iron and wood.
Apiary Porath introduces the visitors to the wonderful world of the honey bee, and the most important animal in the most fascinating lives today, a creative and unusual way. Museum space, in the light of special lighting and desert never displayed apiary bee close-ups ever, thousands of bees flying metal museum space, hives containing bees transparent low-down busy work diary. In addition, there is a movie about a world of bees and shop to buy honey, olive oil and wine. In addition, there is a possibility the meeting and dinner in the dining room of the old eye and view the presentation about the establishment.
Phone: 052-3666032 or via the website: www.45c.co.il
For more information visit this website.
Additional information on the festival site Honey Council – www.honey.org.il
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