Mansour owned about a hundred hives. He says: \u201cIn a normal season, this number can produce, on average, about a ton of honey per year, worth around twenty thousand dollars or more, depending on the season and price. After accounting for beekeeping costs, this work provided my family with a monthly income exceeding a thousand dollars.\u201d The hives were not merely an additional source of income for him \u2014 they were part of the household economy, his capacity to plan, and the idea that the countryside can give its people a reason to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Season That Doesn\u2019t Wait for the End of War<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, he had been waiting for spring to expand the apiary further. He says he was able to add about fifteen new hives each season \u2014 and these hives are not counted only within this year\u2019s production, but form the foundation for the following year\u2019s production. His plan was for the season to help him pay his daughter\u2019s university installment. Here, the loss is no longer confined to honey not harvested or hives not opened \u2014 it extends to a deferred university installment, a monthly income cut off, and a lost season whose effects stretch well beyond the war itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven if the bees had survived,\u201d says Mansour, \u201cthe inability to reach them or care for them was practically their loss. Bees do not wait for the war to end to resume their cycle. If nutrition is absent, or treatment delayed, or hives left without monitoring, the colony weakens, the queen retreats, and the hive collapses from within \u2014 before the loss ever shows in production numbers.\u201d By his estimate, a beekeeper who lost his hives or was unable to tend them throughout this period will not be able to resume production immediately after the war ends \u2014 and may not be able to sell honey again before spring 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same story repeats among various beekeepers. Others \u2014 including Ahmad Ibrahim Nasreddin, Ali Musa Shaker, and Rabah Mohammad Hamza, from Hadatha, Aynata, and Jmayjmeh \u2014 spoke of losses in their apiaries ranging between ten and fifty hives during the ongoing war in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These losses, according to the beekeepers, translated into a near-complete severance of a basic family income source, amid displacement, difficulty returning, and the absence of any compensation to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Beekeeping Sector Within a Broader Agricultural Collapse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What Ahmad Ibrahim Nasreddin, Ali Musa Shaker, and Rabah Mohammad Hamza recount does not stand outside a broader context of agricultural collapse in southern Lebanon. According to a report published by L\u2019Orient-Le Jour<\/a> based on the Ministry of Agriculture\u2019s fifth weekly report within the national response plan, 56,264 hectares of agricultural land were damaged, 64 villages were affected by shelling, land bulldozing, and the destruction of irrigation networks and rural infrastructure, while 77.9% of small farmers in the south were forced to flee \u2014 halting production seasons and supply chains across wide areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within this picture, the beekeeping sector bore a clear share of the losses. Ministry of Agriculture data indicate the loss of more than 29,000 beehives during the war \u2014 a loss that affects not only honey production but also breeding seasons, agricultural pollination, and the annual income of hundreds of rural families. On World Bee Day, May 20, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani<\/a> confirmed that the beekeeping economy is no longer a marginal sector \u2014 it has become a core part of the food security system, biodiversity protection, and strengthening the resilience of rural communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Loss of Expertise, Not Just Hives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The losses do not stop at the boundaries of hives and seasons. Environmental and rights platforms circulated testimonies<\/a> about beekeepers killed during the war, among them Marouf Ramal and Mohammad Abdel Salam Nasrallah \u2014 well-known names in Lebanon\u2019s beekeeping sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These losses reveal an additional dimension in the sector: recovery of production is not tied to hives alone, but also to the accumulated expertise of beekeepers \u2014 their knowledge of seasons, treatment, breeding, and the movement of bees between areas and pastures. In a sector that depends greatly on inherited local knowledge, losing a beekeeper can mean losing years of expertise that are difficult to compensate for quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Honey to Food Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bee losses cannot be separated from a broader picture of food system disruption in Lebanon. In a statement published by \u201cAl-Mayadeen Lebanon<\/a>,\u201d the National Coordinator for Food System Transformation, Deputy Inaya Ezzedine, stated that the Israeli aggression \u201cthreatens Lebanon\u2019s food system and undermines its foundations deeply.\u201d According to the figures presented, the agricultural sector incurred direct losses of $118 million, plus $586 million in production and income losses, while the number of people suffering from food insecurity rose to 1.26 million during 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n When War Strikes the Rural Life Cycle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In southern Lebanon, the loss of bees does not appear as merely a line item on the agricultural damage list. It is the loss of a production season, a family income source, rural expertise, and a daily capacity to provide food and income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With continued displacement, difficulty accessing border villages, and the absence of any compensation to date, many beekeepers \u2014 especially those for whom apiaries were their primary livelihood and main family support \u2014 find themselves facing compounded loss: the loss of their income source on one hand, and the absence of any economic alternative on the other. Thus, the urgent need emerges for rapid and fair support and compensation mechanisms that protect the most affected beekeepers and prevent a single season\u2019s loss from becoming a permanent exit of entire families from this sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mansour doesn\u2019t talk about beehives that burned or were lost as losses one tallies in damage reports. He talks about a season he had been waiting for in his village of Aynata, about a spring that never came, about a small business that was slowly growing \u2014 hive by hive \u2014 until it became part of the family\u2019s income and its plan for the coming year. Mansour, a teacher and beekeeper, knew that spring is not a passing season in the life of bees. It is the beginning of the entire cycle: the honey season, the breeding season, and the season to expand the apiary. At this particular time, bees need daily monitoring, care, feeding, and close observation \u2014 and the beekeeper\u2019s experienced hand that knows when to open a hive, when to add a frame, when to move a colony, and when to prevent disease before it spreads. But the war began at the threshold of this season and closed the road between the beekeeper and his bees. \u201cThe war began at the threshold of this season and closed the road between the beekeeper and his bees\u201d Mansour owned about a hundred hives. He says: \u201cIn a normal season, this number can produce, on average, about a ton of honey per year, worth around twenty thousand dollars or more, depending on the season and price. After accounting for beekeeping costs, this work provided my family with a monthly income exceeding a thousand dollars.\u201d The hives were not merely an additional source of income for him \u2014 they were part of the household economy, his capacity to plan, and the idea that the countryside can give its people a reason to stay. A Season That Doesn\u2019t Wait for the End of War\u00a0 This year, he had been waiting for spring to expand the apiary further. He says he was able to add about fifteen new hives each season \u2014 and these hives are not counted only within this year\u2019s production, but form the foundation for the following year\u2019s production. His plan was for the season to help him pay his daughter\u2019s university installment. Here, the loss is no longer confined to honey not harvested or hives not opened \u2014 it extends to a deferred university installment, a monthly income cut off, and a lost season whose effects stretch well beyond the war itself.\u00a0 \u201cEven if the bees had survived,\u201d says Mansour, \u201cthe inability to reach them or care for them was practically their loss. Bees do not wait for the war to end to resume their cycle. If nutrition is absent, or treatment delayed, or hives left without monitoring, the colony weakens, the queen retreats, and the hive collapses from within \u2014 before the loss ever shows in production numbers.\u201d By his estimate, a beekeeper who lost his hives or was unable to tend them throughout this period will not be able to resume production immediately after the war ends \u2014 and may not be able to sell honey again before spring 2027. The same story repeats among various beekeepers. Others \u2014 including Ahmad Ibrahim Nasreddin, Ali Musa Shaker, and Rabah Mohammad Hamza, from Hadatha, Aynata, and Jmayjmeh \u2014 spoke of losses in their apiaries ranging between ten and fifty hives during the ongoing war in southern Lebanon. These losses, according to the beekeepers, translated into a near-complete severance of a basic family income source, amid displacement, difficulty returning, and the absence of any compensation to date. The Beekeeping Sector Within a Broader Agricultural Collapse What Ahmad Ibrahim Nasreddin, Ali Musa Shaker, and Rabah Mohammad Hamza recount does not stand outside a broader context of agricultural collapse in southern Lebanon. According to a report published by L\u2019Orient-Le Jour based on the Ministry of Agriculture\u2019s fifth weekly report within the national response plan, 56,264 hectares of agricultural land were damaged, 64 villages were affected by shelling, land bulldozing, and the destruction of irrigation networks and rural infrastructure, while 77.9% of small farmers in the south were forced to flee \u2014 halting production seasons and supply chains across wide areas. Within this picture, the beekeeping sector bore a clear share of the losses. Ministry of Agriculture data indicate the loss of more than 29,000 beehives during the war \u2014 a loss that affects not only honey production but also breeding seasons, agricultural pollination, and the annual income of hundreds of rural families. On World Bee Day, May 20, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani confirmed that the beekeeping economy is no longer a marginal sector \u2014 it has become a core part of the food security system, biodiversity protection, and strengthening the resilience of rural communities.\u00a0 \u201cThe loss of more than 29,000 beehives during the war\u201d The Loss of Expertise, Not Just Hives The losses do not stop at the boundaries of hives and seasons. Environmental and rights platforms circulated testimonies about beekeepers killed during the war, among them Marouf Ramal and Mohammad Abdel Salam Nasrallah \u2014 well-known names in Lebanon\u2019s beekeeping sector. These losses reveal an additional dimension in the sector: recovery of production is not tied to hives alone, but also to the accumulated expertise of beekeepers \u2014 their knowledge of seasons, treatment, breeding, and the movement of bees between areas and pastures. In a sector that depends greatly on inherited local knowledge, losing a beekeeper can mean losing years of expertise that are difficult to compensate for quickly. From Honey to Food Security Bee losses cannot be separated from a broader picture of food system disruption in Lebanon. In a statement published by \u201cAl-Mayadeen Lebanon,\u201d the National Coordinator for Food System Transformation, Deputy Inaya Ezzedine, stated that the Israeli aggression \u201cthreatens Lebanon\u2019s food system and undermines its foundations deeply.\u201d According to the figures presented, the agricultural sector incurred direct losses of $118 million, plus $586 million in production and income losses, while the number of people suffering from food insecurity rose to 1.26 million during 2024.\u00a0 When War Strikes the Rural Life Cycle In southern Lebanon, the loss of bees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":16874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[379,436,362,383,410,522],"tags":[637,422,645],"class_list":["post-16878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-issues","category-economy","category-environment","category-food-security","category-our-environment","category-the-people-of-the-south-speak","tag-food-security","tag-silat_wassel-en","tag-south-lebanon"],"blocksy_meta":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54-300x132.jpg",300,132,true],"large":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54-1024x450.jpg",1024,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54-1536x675.jpg",1536,675,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15-54.jpg",2048,900,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"\u0632\u064a\u0646\u0628 \u0646\u0645\u0631","author_link":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/author\/zeinab-nemer\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Environmental Issues<\/a> Economy<\/a> Environment<\/a> Food Security<\/a> Our Environment<\/a> The People of the South Speak<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Mansour doesn\u2019t talk about beehives that burned or were lost as losses one tallies in damage reports. He talks about a season he had been waiting for in his village of Aynata, about a spring that never came, about a small business that was slowly growing \u2014 hive by hive \u2014 until it became part…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-18-1024x768.jpeg\")
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\u201cThe loss of more than 29,000 beehives during the war\u201d<\/pre>\n\n\n\n