Bashkir Honey

Bortnichestvo is the keeping of bees in hollows cut into living pine and lime trees, ten to fifteen metres up, worked by a climber using a rope and a foot board - and Bashkortostan is essentially the only place where it survives as a practice rather than a demonstration. The bees are the Burzyan dark forest bee, a local population adapted to long winters, protected in the Shulgan-Tash reserve where the practice continues, and the honey taken from the hollows is a distinct product from apiary honey. Lime honey from the region's forests is the best known type, along with buckwheat and meadow. The reserve has a museum of the craft, and climbers demonstrate the work in season. Bashkir honey is heavily counterfeited across Russia - the name sells - so buying at the reserve, a certified market or directly from a keeper is the only reliable route, and roadside stalls are not it.

What to look for

• The tree hollows - hives cut into living pines and limes, ten to fifteen metres up.
• The rope climbers - bortniki working the hollows with rope and foot board.
• The Burzyan bee - a protected local dark forest bee population.
• The lime honey - the region's best known type, alongside buckwheat and meadow.

When to go

August and September for the harvest. A day at the reserve; an hour if you only want to buy.

What to expect

The reserve is 350 km from Ufa on slow roads. Climbing demonstrations run only in season and by arrangement. Counterfeit Bashkir honey is widespread and hard to detect; buy at source. Anyone with bee allergies should be careful around the apiaries.

Nearby

Shulgan-Tash cave with its palaeolithic paintings is in the same reserve.