Slavonian honey () is a specific type of

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

producued in the

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

region of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. As a food product, it is protected by a designation of geographical origin at the level of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Characteristics

By the production method, it is honey in the

honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and stores of honey and pol ...

, honey with honeycomb or parts of the honeycomb, and honey drawn, and includes: *

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

honey * Linden honey *

Rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus'' subsp. ''napus''), also known as rape and oilseed rape and canola, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturall ...

honey *

Sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

honey *

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

honey * Flower honey * Malted oak honey. The percentage of water is a maximum of 18.3%, while the amount of

hydroxymethylfurfural Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), also known as 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural, is an organic compound formed by the dehydration of reducing sugars. It is a white low-melting solid (although commercial samples are often yellow) which is highly soluble in b ...

is a maximum of 16.5 mg/kg. Also specific is the presence of

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

from the

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

Robinia ''Robinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, tribe Robinieae, native to North America. Commonly known as locusts, they are deciduous trees and shrubs growing tall. The leaves are pinnate with 7–21 oval leaflets. The flowe ...

spp. and

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...

in Slavonian honey, as accompanying pollen (at least 16%) or secondary pollen (at most 15%). It is produced by native "gray bees" (''Apis mellifera carnica'') of the Pannonian subtype.

Production

It has been produced commercially since the 1980s. Honey is produced in

Vukovar-Srijem Vukovar-Srijem County (), Vukovar-Sirmium County or Vukovar-Syrmia County, named after the eponymous town of Vukovar and the region of Syrmia, is the easternmost Croatian Counties of Croatia, county. It includes the eastern parts of the region of ...

Osijek-Baranja Osijek-Baranja County (, , ) is a county in Croatia, located in northeastern Slavonia and Baranja which is defined part of the Pannonian Plain. Its center is Osijek. Other towns include Đakovo, Našice, Valpovo, Belišće, and Beli Manastir. ...

, Požega-Slavonia,

Brod-Posavina Brod-Posavina County () is the southern Slavonian county in Croatia. Its center is the city of Slavonski Brod and it spreads along the left bank of the Sava river, hence the name ''Posavina''. Other notable towns include Nova Gradiška. Geograph ...

and

Virovitica-Podravina County Virovitica-Podravina County (; ; ) is a northern Slavonian county in Croatia. Its county seat is in Virovitica and it includes the area around the Drava river, Podravina being the Drava's drainage basin. Other notable towns are Slatina and ...

. The production area includes the entire Slavonic region, located in the northeastern part of Croatia, bordered by three rivers, the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

in the north (border with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

), the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

in the south (border with

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

) and the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

in the east (border with

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

) and part of the Hungarian-Croatian border between the Drava and Danube rivers. The western part of the Slavonic border covers the area of the western administrative border of the

Bjelovar-Bilogora County Bjelovar-Bilogora County (; ) is a Counties of Croatia, county in central Croatia. The central city of Bjelovar was first mentioned in 1413, and it only gained importance when a new fort was built in 1756 to defend against the Ottoman Empire, O ...

and the municipalities of

Lipovljani Lipovljani () is a municipality in Croatian Slavonia in the Sisak-Moslavina County. Population The municipality has a population of 3,455 (2011 census), in the following settlements: * Kraljeva Velika, population 471 * Krivaj, population 307 ...

and Jasenovac and the city of

Novska Novska is a town in the Sisak-Moslavina County of Croatia. It is located in western part of the historic region of Slavonia, between Kutina and Nova Gradiška, linear distance southeast of the capital, Zagreb. Climate Since records began in 198 ...

. All stages of the production are carried out in this area.

Protection

The ''Association of Slavonic honey producers'' (Udruga proizvođača Slavonskog meda) from

Virovitica Virovitica () is a Croatian city near the Hungary, Hungarian border. It is situated near the Drava river and belongs to the historic region of Slavonia. Virovitica has a population of 14,688, with 21,291 people in the municipality (census 2011). I ...

initiated the national procedure for the protection of the name "Slavonski med" as a protected mark of authenticity in 2015, and in 2016 the name "Slavonski med" was protected in the Republic of Croatia.{{cite web, language=hr, url=https://www.poslovni.hr/hrvatska/slavonski-med-zasticena-oznaka-izvornosti-317013, website=poslovni.hr, title=Slavonski med-zaštićena oznaka izvornosti, date=22 August 2016, access-date=2025-01-17 The request for registration of the name "Slavonski med" at the level of the European Union was sent to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

in September 2016. Protection was granted by the implementing regulation 2018/95 on 9 January 2018 of the European Commission.

References

Slavonia Honey Croatian products with protected designation of origin