TUCKED away in a narrow and overgrown alley in an industrial suburb of Nicosia is a row of ten waist-high white boxes.
At the base of each box there is a narrow slot around which a handful of bees are hovering, patiently waiting to deliver their nectar inside.
As they go about their business, so do the mechanics in the car garage next door, each no doubt unaware of the other’s importance for Cyprus.
I am visiting the urban hives at Kaimakli, run by the Eliana Beekeeping shop, to see how apiarists farm and produce the world famous Cyprus honey and other products from the hives.
I am told about the bee’s surprisingly sophisticated society, the wide products unique to Cyprus, and the development of honey production methods over the centuries to its present form.
Each of these subjects could fill a book by themselves, but what surprises me most on my visit is not the rich history, or that Cypriot honey has won gold medals in the equivalent of the honey world cup. What is most striking is the vital role that such an unassuming and relatively small industry plays in the survival of the Cypriot ecosystem.
Bees, I am told, account for 90 per cent of the pollination on the island, and honey has been exported from Cyprus since Pliny was writing in around 100 AD, while honey was first produced in hives here in 1801.
Now, after centuries of cultivation, bees are under threat; and the modest apiaries, managed by around 600 amateurs and professionals on the island, are key to ensuring the survival of our ecology.
The main threat is climate change, and in the last three years the drought has nearly halved the bee population, but it also faces serious problems with the widespread and indiscriminate use of pesticides and urban sprawl, which limits the flowers that the bees feed on. The resulting desertification then leads to a vicious cycle of decline.
Pambos Christodoulou, Head of the Pancyprian Beekeepers Association (PBA) said: “For some years we have had real problems with the weather. Three years ago, the number of hives dropped from 50,000 down to 30,000.”
Thanks to various initiatives, such as teaching the craft to around 100 students and cultivating queen bees, which are used to begin new hives, the numbers have recovered, and there are now nearly 45,000 hives.
“We now have around 600 beekeepers on the island; men, women, young and old are interested to learn.” Around 50 beekeepers are professional, producing honey on a large scale. Most are hobbyists with modest numbers of hives.
In Kaimakli I met one such amateur enthusiast. Ioannis Potamous is an IT consultant who started his hives in the Troodos Mountains last season, and is preparing for his first harvest.
“I have been working with computers for 14 years and now I want to spend more time in nature, and I am making honey for my friends and family.” He said on a flying visit to the beekeeping store.
Potamous is part of a movement that eschews the use of chemicals. For example, rather than using chemical sprays to protect the bees from illness, and which can affect the quality of the honey, he places herbs inside the hive to protect them.
However, despite the PBA’s success, the bees remain threatened by non natural forces, primarily widespread use of pesticide sprays on commercial farms.
“We have a big problem with sprays, which is why we demonstrated last month.” said Christodoulou referring to their demonstration outside the House of Represetatives.
“When people spray the flowers with insecticides it is a big problem. Too many farmers are ignoring the labels that say not to spray during the flowering season.” For example in Fassouri, near Limassol, Christodoulou says around 15,000 hives, worth around 1,100,000 euros were lost to insecticide spray last year.
“Some bees die on site. Others might get back to the hive, but their behaviour is strange and other bees stop them. They then die at the gates of their hive.”
The irony is that bees are essential for successful harvests, and with declining numbers in recent years, Pambos says fruit harvests have been smaller and poorer quality. “It is a shame. If you have no bees, you have no life: nearly 90 per cent of flowers on trees need bees for the pollination.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the government is unwilling to confront large commercial farms’ use of pesticides, and Christodoulou is dismissive of their input. “The government doesn’t do a lot. They can do more, but I believe there is no vision to increase or help the people in the honey industry because we are small.”
The government in turn seems confident that the situation was fine. An agricultural officer within the ministry said yesterday “I believe that things are going well, because we have a lot of flowers and thyme… and the number of hives are up to 44,000.”
This seems to differ from other countries, where farms will even pay beekeepers to maintain hives. “Here they refuse to accept that bees are important,” said Christodoulou.
The third main challenge comes from new residents in the countryside, who affect bees in two ways, by urbanising their natural habitat, and by refusing to allow beehives near their property.
“The problem is that in many houses there are swimming pools. The bees can smell the water and will fly up to five kilometres to drink it,” Christodoulou said. “The people are reacting angrily, and ask us to remove the bees from the area.”
“We try to remove them if there is a real problem, for example if there is someone there who is allergic. We respect the people and we don’t want problems.”
Nevertheless, few rural residents seem to accept them.
Perhaps the solution is to educate the new country residents and encourage them to get involved. For as little as €300, one can buy a hive and all the equipment needed to produce up to 20 kilograms of honey each year. And this can sell for between €6 and €10 per kilo.
For more information about how to get started in beekeeping, contact the Pancyprian Beekeepers Association on 22 420051, or Eliana Beekeeping on 22432632.
