New register for bee hives, keepers after Evia fires
The destruction of thousands of unregistered beehives in the northern Evia fires this summer has prompted the Agriculture Ministry to create a more comprehensive register that will allow it to better monitor honey production volume, but also quality.
The Greek Agricultural Insurance Organization (ELGA) estimates that 10,000-15,000 beehives were razed in the area, with a spokesman for the island’s beekeepers telling Kathimerini that this will lead to a drop in honey production by as much as 10,000 tons a year. This is due in great part to the fact that the vast majority of the beekeepers are not entitled to compensation, slowing the recovery of hive numbers.
Vassilis Douros stresses that losses would have been much greater had nomadic producers from other parts of Greece not been put off by high temperatures and migrated their hives to Evia, which hosts around 600,000 such hives a year.
