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Monastic beekeeping has a concrete historical reason that precedes food use: it supplied wax, not honey. Liturgical candles required pure beeswax in considerable quantities, and every monastery needed an apiary in order not to depend on outside suppliers. Honey was, originally, the by-product. It is also why this category often puts candles, tapers and beeswax cosmetics alongside the jars.

The first distinction to make is between monofloral and wildflower honey. Monofloral honey comes predominantly from the nectar of a single species and has predictable characteristics: acacia stays liquid for a long time and is delicate and low in perceived sweetness; chestnut is amber, tannic and decidedly bitter; lime is balsamic; honeydew honey, which comes not from nectar but from aphid secretions, is dark, barely sweet and rich in minerals. Wildflower honey changes from apiary to apiary and season to season, and is the product that best expresses a particular place.

Crystallisation is where most of the confusion sits. Honey that sets is neither spoiled nor adulterated with sugar: it is doing exactly what its composition dictates. Honeys rich in glucose, such as dandelion and sunflower, crystallise within weeks; those rich in fructose, such as acacia, can stay liquid for years. A honey that remains perfectly liquid after a long time and is not acacia or honeydew has more likely been pasteurised than it is unusually fine. To return it to a fluid state, stand the jar in warm water below 40 °C: above that threshold, enzymes and aromas degrade.

Alongside honey you will find propolis, pollen and royal jelly. Propolis is a resin the bees gather and use to seal the hive, sold as a hydroalcoholic extract or spray. Pollen comes as granules. Royal jelly is the secretion destined for the queen and must be kept refrigerated. A considerable amount of health claim circulates around all three: European regulation has not authorised health claims for any of them, and anyone allergic to pollen or bee products should treat them with caution. They are foods, not therapies.

For storage a few rules suffice: jar closed, dry place between 10 and 20 °C, away from heat and from strong-smelling foods, because honey absorbs odours. The fridge is unnecessary and in fact accelerates crystallisation. Always use a dry spoon: water introduced into the jar is the one realistic way to make honey ferment.