The production of honey depends on the presence, distribution and healthiness of the bees in the area, but not everyone realizes that the quality of honey is also influenced by the quality of the flowers from which these busy insects draw the precious nectar.

In Umbria, one of the Italian regions with the lowest degree of air pollution due both to the scarcity of industry and to the low population density, the honey is naturally of the highest quality and preserves all of its nutritional value and therapeutic properties. In Italian folk wisdom, and especially in the Umbria-Lazio-Marche area there is the firm belief that honey has many therapeutic virtues, such as its action on the disturbances of the respiratory tract and of the circulatory and digestive systems, as well as for the teething of children. Not surprisingly, honey is still used today to sweeten many of the most traditional Umbrian cakes and pastries. Most of the honey produced is the "
millefiori" ("thousand flowers") type, but unifloral types, i.e. made from the nectar of a single flower species, such as
clover, sulla clover, sunflower and acacia, are also produced.
Acacia honey may remain in a liquid state for many months, unlike the others that tend to crystallize a few weeks after being extracted from the combs.