The northern parts of the island are the most ideal for beekeeping as there is the most foraging area of wild thyme. Other parts of the island are ideal for other types of honey as there are foraging areas of various types of wild flowers such as orange blossoms, borage, clover, capers, carob trees and eucalyptus. Maltese flora has similarities with that of Scicily and comprises about 1,000 spieces of which 800 are indigenous. The rest of the species where introduced over the years.
Honey production as mentioned before can be traced back to many years. Honey was one of the exports from Malta in Roman times. Traditionaly bees were kept in earthenware jars called qolla. These type of jars where used in the Mediterranean region for a long time, in the Middle East and Greece and Egypt. Sometimes these jars where kept in specially built up apiaries. There is also the endemic honey bee sub-species of Malta called Apis Mellifera Ruttneri.