Mountain honey from Iraqi Kurdistan
Honey from Kurdish beekeepers in the mountains and foothills of northern Iraq, harvested in September and October. The bees forage on oaks, junipers, hawthorns, citrus, almonds, thyme and eucalyptus, so the colour ranges from almost white to dark; most often it is light amber.
- Origin
- Kurdistan – Duhok and Erbil governorates (Iraq)
- Colour
- 55 mm · light amber
- Season
- September – October
- Plant
- mixed mountain flora: oaks, junipers, hawthorns, citrus, almonds, thyme, eucalyptus
Colour varies by year and place; the value given is typical of the variety, not a measurement of one jar. Where a source describes the colour only in words (such as ‘light amber’), we convert it to the middle of the matching band of the Pfund scale, so the figure is approximate. The season follows the sources or, failing that, the flowering time of the plant in that area.
An analysis of 16 samples at the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno (2024) found that Kurdish honeys meet the EU’s strict quality criteria and do not differ in colour or conductivity from Czech and Slovak honeys.