Anzer Honey Product Description and Distinguishing Features: Anzer Honey is a flower honey produced in a valley about 13 km long, with altitudes ranging from 1750 m to 3150 m. The valley has a narrow section measuring 4 km and a wider section of 9.5 km, located in the Anzer Plateau. It is offered to consumers as filtered honey. The Anzer Valley, a U-shaped valley, is surrounded by mountain ranges exceeding 3000 meters in height on the east, west, and south sides, forming a natural barrier. This isolation creates a unique ecosystem, which distinguishes the valley from surrounding areas in terms of climate, flora, and other natural elements. These variations are reflected in the nectar and honey produced. The vegetation of the Anzer Plateau, which boasts a rich diversity of plants, including endemic species, is alpine in nature. A defining feature of Anzer Honey produced in this natural ecosystem is the dominance of pollens from members of the Fabaceae family, as well as Asteraceae, Boraginaceae (Myosotis), Poaceae, Rosaceae, Geraniaceae, and Lamiaceae plant families. Notably, there is an absolute absence of Castanea sativa and Rhododendron ponticum plant flower pollens. A key distinguishing factor of Anzer Honey is the minor (3% - 15%) or rare (less than 3%) presence of Myosotis pollens. The pollen count of Anzer Honey does not exceed 1,000,000 in TPS-10, and it does not contain any added pollens. In the production of Anzer Honey, Caucasian and Caucasian hybrid bees are employed due to their disease resistance, strength, ability to fly in cold and foggy weather, and their longer tongues compared to other bee breeds. Anzer Honey has a creamy texture when it crystallizes in cold environments and maintains a moisture content below 20%. The levels of sucrose, fructose, and glucose sugars, the sum of these sugars, proline, the fructose/glucose ratio, insoluble matter content, free acidity value, electrical conductivity, diastase number, and other factors all meet the values outlined in the Turkish Food Codex Honey Regulation. Production Method: For the production of Anzer Honey, beekeepers arriving in the region complete their accommodation procedures between May 20 and June 30. Accommodation requests made after this date are not accepted, and checks are carried out by village councils, relevant cooperatives, law enforcement, and the İkizdere District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry. To operate as itinerant beekeepers, those coming from outside the province must present documents proving the presence of their colonies, along with a veterinary health report and a dispatch document issued by the provincial or district directorates of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Beekeepers already from the province should provide their operating permit and a list of colony locations. In order to meet the registration requirement in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Bee Registry System (AKS), the Animal Information System (HBS), and the Organic Farming Information System (OTBİS), itinerant beekeepers, whose movements are facilitated with these documents, have their coordinates recorded based on the apiaries where they produce, allowing them to access the Anzer Plateau. The geographical area has an approximate capacity for 3000 beehives. However, when determining the hive capacity, the number of hives, and the methods of accommodation, checks are conducted by village councils and the İkizdere District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry in accordance with the Beekeeping Regulation published in the Official Gazette on November 30, 2011. Beekeepers who meet the conditions for itinerant beekeeping outlined in the Beekeeping Regulation but are not members of any local cooperatives can only stay for the remaining colony quota after the cooperative members have been accommodated. The apiaries, made up of commercial wooden hives crafted from needle-leaved forest trees, are placed approximately 50 meters apart to ensure proper honey quality. Climate conditions play a significant role in the timing of Anzer Honey extraction. Excessive heat can cause the region’s flowers to fade, resulting in a decrease in pollen production. Similarly, rain and fog can hinder the bees' activity. As a result, the extraction time is determined by considering the flower and pollen conditions. The extraction time is set by the supervisory authority in the second week of July, and the information is shared with the producers. The same process is followed for determining the honey yield. In the traditional extraction method, light smoking is done using bellows, and the frames are removed from the honeycombs. After the wax is scraped off with a wax knife or comb, the honey is filtered through honey extraction machines to separate the wax and bee parts. After resting for 1-2 days, the filtered honey is delivered to the cooperatives by the producers for distribution. Once all the honey has been delivered to the cooperative, officials visit the cooperative to collect samples, following the established regulations. The mouth of the sampled honey jars is properly labeled and stored securely at the cooperatives. At least 2 samples are taken for the analysis of Anzer Honey, and in case of any disputes, the second and additional samples are used. Producers who are not members of any cooperative apply to the Rize Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry for sample collection after the extraction process. Following the application, officials visit the producer to collect the samples, ensuring that the process complies with the regulations. The mouth of the sampled honey jars is properly labeled and stored safely with the producers. To ensure the uniform distribution of pollens in honey, the rested honeys are mixed, and samples are taken by the teams from the Food and Feed Branch Directorate of the Rize Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry in accordance with the regulations. The analysis fees for cooperative members are covered by the cooperatives they belong to, but are later collected from the producers. For beekeepers who are not members of any cooperatives, the samples of the honey they produce are collected by the teams of the Rize Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, with the fees paid by the beekeepers themselves. If requested, a member from the respective cooperatives or the Rize Province Beekeepers Association may be present during the sample collection. The collected samples are sent to a laboratory accredited by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for compliance with the Turkish Food Codex Honey Regulation and to Hacettepe University Bee and Bee Products Application and Research Center (HARÜM) for pollen analysis. After all the analysis results reach the Rize Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, honey that meets the conditions of Anzer Honey is harmonized by combining the honeys from producers who are members of the same cooperative in the Rize Province Beekeepers Association Honey Filling Plant within a maximum of 15 days. The analysis fees for cooperative members are later collected from the producers. The filling of honeys from producers who are not cooperative members is done individually. During the filling of Anzer Honey, external honey entry into the Rize Province Beekeepers Association Honey Filling Plant is prohibited, and if requested during the filling, individuals designated by the cooperatives can oversee the filling process. Each year, before May 15, beekeeping cooperatives operating in the Anzer Plateau must inform the Rize Province Beekeepers Association in writing if an agreement has been made regarding the use of a filling plant owned by one of the cooperatives. If no such notification is received regarding the agreement, the filling process is carried out at the filling plant of the Rize Province Beekeepers Association. Honey is filled into 100g, 250g, 500g, and 1000g glass jars. After filling, labels are applied to the jars, which include details such as the Anzer Honey label, geographical indication, traditional product name emblem, brand, producer information, etc., in compliance with regulations. Plastic safety bands are applied to prevent the opening of jar lids, secured with heat treatment, and made ready for sale. If necessary, the producer can take additional measures to prevent the jars from being opened. To prevent Anzer Honey from crystallizing into a creamy texture over time, the honey filling process is carried out once a month, considering the requests from the cooperatives. The filling date is assigned a batch number, and the quantity of jars filled in each batch is recorded by weight. Honey filling requests must be submitted at least one week in advance to ensure that inspection procedures are carried out smoothly. Beekeepers relocate their hives to areas with milder climates to help the bees survive the winter. In early spring, before the addition of honeycomb layers, bees are typically fed with honey or sugar syrup (sucrose). No feeding occurs after the honeycomb layer has been added. Once honey is harvested, preparations for winter begin, and during this time, bees are fed using the same method. Hive cleaning takes place in the spring using physical methods, and only those methods approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry are used for controlling diseases and pests.