This article is part of an extensive storytelling series delving into Lebanon’s gems, best practices, successes, and unique features with a special focus on environmental issues and protection. The series strives to portray Lebanon through the lens of its places and people.
Despite its modest size, Lebanon boasts a rich tradition of beekeeping that spans generations, intertwining with cultural heritage and agricultural practices. In recent years, this sector has garnered renewed attention, not only for its contribution to honey production, but also for its potential as a side-job, a hobby, or an opportunity to simply reconnect with the surrounding environment.
Bees play a crucial role within ecosystems, particularly in terms of pollination and biodiversity conservation. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that approximately 75% of food crops depend at least partially on pollinators for reproduction, making pollinators like bees essential for food security and agricultural production.
The diverse Lebanese ecosystems allow for the production of a variety of honey types. “Thanks to the coast and the mountains, we produce both forest and flower honey”, says Carine Ghassibe, 25, agricultural engineer and young beekeeper. “The love for nature has always been embedded in my family. I was used to doing outdoor activities with my relatives and this created a connection with the environment”, she explained when asked what brought her to beekeeping.
Alongside her studies, a three-month workshop in 2018 paved the way for her to become a beekeeper. “However, I was still at university. Then, the Revolution happened in 2019, followed by the economic crisis. I did not know where the country was heading, so I paused all that, and I kind of forgot the idea” Ghassibe explained. In summer 2022, Ghassibe was offered to have her own beehive. “Unlike agricultural crops, you do not need a huge investment to start” she added.
Until recently, beekeeping was traditionally practiced by older beekeepers, mostly men. “As a result of the Civil War and the occupation of South Lebanon, many younger individuals left their villages to study in cities and seek other sources of income, creating a generational gap in beekeeping”, explained Alexis Baghdadi, 42, co-founder of the Lebanese permaculture association, SOILS.
Sustainable beekeeping, as other agricultural practices, is rooted in diversification. However, until the mid-2010s, honey was the only source of income for most beekeepers in Lebanon. “Only a few specialized beekeepers occasionally reared queen honeybees or sold royal jelly to individual customers. As for pollen, it was exclusively imported” he added.
To address this, SOILS focused on valuing other beehive products, notably propolis and beeswax. As a bridge between two famous Lebanese traditional practices, honey was also included in soap recipes.
“Alongside the process of diversification, we developed educational material and organised the first beekeeping workshop for the general public in 2013” Baghdadi said. The workshop aimed to give an introduction to the world of bees and a better understanding of the business.
After two years, SOILS spotted a need for more advanced beekeeping training. “For this reason, we partnered with a French organisation to design a year-long beekeeping apprenticeship programme”. The development of training in a structural manner has allowed SOILS to partner with other local and international NGOs, such as IECD and USAID which have initiated livelihoods programs targeting young people and women in rural areas.
Because of its distinctive features, the sector represents an opportunity for many women. SOILS is about to launch a year-long training program in Sfaray, South Lebanon, to train 24 women as beekeepers or producers of beehive products. However, “it is not easy to fit into a male-prevalent environment, especially as a young woman” Ghassibe explained. “But it is all female in the beehives! So who better than a woman to do this job” she is used to saying.
According to Ghassibe, the Covid-19 pandemic was part of the reason for the growing interest of young people in agriculture and beekeeping. “It’s not a business for all, but many practice it as a side job or a hobby”. Due to the lockdown measures, many people returned to their villages. “Moreover, our generation is much more exposed to environmental topics, such as sustainability and eco-friendly activities”. For Baghdadi, this confirms a global trend of creating new livelihoods in rural areas that has been ongoing over the past decade.
As a by-product of such a trend, rural tourism has gained its spotlight in the past decade. “In Lebanon, no one buys olive oil or honey from the supermarket, but straight from the farmers”, said Rania Tanissa, 42, travel consultant and blogger. On her blog ‘Lebanon Untravelled’, she offers customers to be a ‘Beekeeper for a day’. “Many beekeepers were interested in receiving tourists to introduce them to the practice and now they welcome both local and international tourists on a regular basis” she said.
The renewed interest in the beekeeping sector, comes with the risk of overcrowding it. Bees provide valuable ecosystem services beyond pollination, such as soil fertility and nutrient cycling. However, intensive beekeeping and agricultural practices create an imbalance in natural ecosystems.
On the other hand, the variation of flowering periods due to the sudden changes in temperatures and climate change may also impact the beehive and the harvest that occurs sooner rather than later in the year. “This affects the synchronisation between the bees and the environment and the rise of temperatures allow the spread of diseases that develop with warmth” Ghassibe said. For this reason, many beekeepers tend to change location of their beehives according to temperatures.
However, the most pressing concern is linked to human interference. The loss of green spaces to urbanization, the focus on single crops, the use of pesticides and other chemicals, deforestation and fires, and other factors like noise, air, water and light pollution impact honeybees more drastically.
The UN and its Agencies, along with NGOs, and other stakeholders, have recognized the urgent need to enhance bee conservation efforts. Initiatives include promoting sustainable agricultural practices, reducing pesticide use, restoring pollinator habitats, raising awareness about the importance of pollinators, and supporting research on bee health and conservation.
Article: Agnese Stracquadanio and Debora Vezzoli
Photos: Carine Ghassibe
via Donatello 5 B
