Voutás (Greece) (AFP)

"We lost our beehives because we were running to save our villages".

Cap pulled down on his head, Adonis Vakos laments in front of the charred forests of the Greek island of Euboea.

“Look, there's nothing green around us anymore. And a bee without green doesn't live”.

On the blackened ground, drawn circles recall that dozens of beehives were lined up among the now-extinct pines.

On leaving the village of Voutas, the lush forest vanished in the fire that devoured the north of the Greek island of Euboea for nine days.

"I have been in the culture of honey since I was ten years old. We will never have time to review it, we will be dead before it grows back. It will take 50 years, if it grows back one day ...", se he laments facing the charred relief.

Pines, walnut trees, fig trees raised the mountains of northern Euboea.

"Everyone worked with nature here. It's a whole way of life that we lost at the same time as the forest," says Babis, 53 years old.

Beehives charred after forest fires on August 11, 2021 in Voutas, Greece ANGELOS TZORTZINIS AFP

"Each season has its treasures," adds this other beekeeper who made a living from his hives.

"What are we going to find here next year? It's over. We've gone from heaven to hell."

- "How are the bees going to feed themselves? With charcoal?"

-

On a smartphone, the two men scroll through photos taken in recent months in the lush nature.

"Memories for life," says Adonis Vakos.

Fear of heights has replaced fear of flames for beekeepers in the region.

Since the exceptionally virulent fires, all farmers, breeders and producers fear the economic consequences and the risk of flooding.

Beekeeper Adonis Vakos inspect beehives that were spared from forest fires on August 11, 2021 in Voutas, Greece ANGELOS TZORTZINIS AFP

"We will undoubtedly have to migrate too, and put our hives in other regions", projects Adonis Vakos.

“Look, there's nothing green around us anymore. And a bee without green doesn't live”.

For his colleague Adonis Angelou, the decision has already been taken.

"I am taking my beehives tomorrow to Pelion", a mountainous peninsula north of Euboea.

"I rented land near Volos, it incurs new costs but I have no choice", adds the operator, who managed to save his 150 beehives by digging with a tractor. a security perimeter facing the flames.

"Fortunately I saved them. But how are the bees going to feed themselves here? With charcoal?".

Until now, northern Euboea has been one of the most popular areas in Greece for beekeepers.

Its micro-climate, its biodiversity, its pine forests caressed by meltem offered ideal conditions for the production of exceptional honey.

- 40% of the country's honey production -

"At this period and until the beginning of November, thousands of beekeepers from Kalamata (south) to Evros (north) came to the north of Evros because the production is immense and the honey of quality", assures Panagiotis Gianakaras, beekeeper from Istiaia.

He too managed to save his 80 beehives.

The colorful wooden boxes sheltering its thousands of bees now rest in the shade of the olive trees.

Beehives in the middle of a field of olive trees, August 11, 2021 in Istiaia, Greece ANGELOS TZORTZINIS AFP

"40% of the country's honey production is done here," said Stathis Albanis, president of the Istiaia beekeepers' cooperative.

"We are talking about forests which are of ecological as well as economic importance. Many inhabitants depend on them," Dimitris Karavellas, director general of WWF Greece, told AFP.

"The climate crisis is a harsh reality and shows us that forests will become more and more vulnerable and more and more valuable for what they provide," he adds.

"The climate crisis is not an excuse to fail but must be an alarm to change", asserts Dimitris Karavellas.

For Alexandra Messare, director of programs in Greece for Greenpeace, the authorities have a responsibility.

"The government, like the previous one, have not invested to defend biodiversity and the people who depend on it," she accuses.

© 2021 AFP