(Then eat from all the fruits, and go along the pathways of your Lord, with precision. From their bellies emerges a fluid of varying colors, containing healing for people. Surely in this is a sign for people who reflect). Believing on the verses of Quran, Omanis since old ages have made the beekeeping a very important craft and this enabled them to provide the best quality of honey that is used for different purposes. Natural Omani honey is very popular among consumers, and there is a great demand for it from various segments of society who flock to buy it whenever it is available in the market, either for its various medicinal benefits or to to add a unique falvor to their meals. Omani Honey is known for its premium quality that is a result of the superb care taken by Omani Beekeepers through the process of producing it.
In Oman, honey is named based on its source and there are some best known types which are Sidr, Sumur(Baram), and Zah’r(flowers. Each of these types is unique for its color, thickness and flavor. Honey is harvested or collected throughout the year, but the best types of honey are those that are produced during the period from March until the end of May, when bees absorb the nectar of trees and wild herbs, especially the “Sumur”(accacia tortilis) trees that bloom during this period. the color of honey is usually closer to black, unlike Sidr honey, which is light brown in color.
The Sumur honey season, which is known as Al Baram honey, begins with the beginning of flowering of the Sumur trees, which are widespread in different Omani regions. The Sumur is one of the desert trees with small leaves and flowers that help it adapt to the climate of dry areas without the need for large amounts of water.
The small flowers release an aromatic scent that can be smelled all over the place where the Sumur tree is , and the bees feed on the nectar of the flowers, which produces high-quality Baram honey. It is characterized by the wonderful aroma of the Sumur flower, its heavy texture and its dark color that turns black after a period of sorting the honey cells.
The taste of this type of honey is less sweet than other types of honey, and some attribute this to the low sugar amount in it, which is somehow lower compared to other types of honey.
It is known that the rains that usually fall in March and April affect the honey season, as the small flowers of the Sumur trees are so light that heavy rainfall leads to their falling off the trees, which negatively affects the honey season, as the bees do not find sufficient quantities of nectar from the flowers which ends up with poor honey season.
With the beginning of Al Baram season, beekeepers filter the honey cells in which the bees collected honey from other flowers such as Qat flowers and other trees. They are keen to making sure that the nectar of the Sumur flowers does not mix with any other type of flowers in order to obtain pure honey from the nectar of the Sumur flowers, which is reflected in the quality of the honey.
Citizens prefer this type of honey purely from the flowers of Sumur trees, which makes the production of this type of honey somewhat difficult, and beekeepers search for suitable pastures and move beehive boxes to areas where the flowers of Sumur trees abound and that is all to obtain pure and high quality honey.
It is worth mentioning that Omani Sumur honey which is known as Al Baram has won several awards and positions in international competitions such as the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations (APIMONDIA) for its quality, purity, nutritional and therapeutic benefits.
By Arwa Al Hashimi
Photos by: Riyadh Al Hinai
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
