A honey vendor pours honey into a can for a customer at his shop in Sanaa, Yemen, Jan. 6, 2020. Yemen, known for producing the finest honey, has been ravaged by more than four years of civil war that has shattered the economy and pushed the Arab country to the brink of starvation. (Photo by Mohammed Dahman/Xinhua)
SANAA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Fleeing from airstrikes and land mines, Yemeni beekeeper Darwish Ali drove his beehives for more than 500 km toward the western highlands of Sanaa province, seeking safe valleys for herding his bees.
Yemen, known for producing the finest honey, has been ravaged by more than four years of civil war that has shattered the economy and pushed the Arab country to the brink of starvation.
The 26-year-old beekeeper arrived in the valleys of Al-Haimah Al-Kharijiyah district two months ago, coming from Shabwa province, about 474 km southeast of the capital Sanaa.
Shabwa's northwestern outskirts are still open battlegrounds between the government forces backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and the Iran-allied Houthi rebels for more than four years.
The coalition which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has launched thousands of airstrikes against the Houthi rebels who control the most populous areas including Sanaa.
"I transported my bees to this area where they can find flowers to produce good honey," Ali told Xinhua in Raimat Al-Haimah valley of Al-Haimah Al-Kharijiyah district.
Al-Haimah Al-Kharijiyah district, which is part of Sanaa province and located more than 35 km to the west of Sanaa, is known for growing Sidr and almond trees.
The trees start producing their flowers in early winter, and will bloom all through the winter.
Known for its purity and therapeutic benefits, the Yemeni honey has been hailed as among the best in the world.
However, the years of war in Yemen have badly paralyzed its traditional honey business.
Abdullah Nashir, a professor at the Agriculture Faculty in Sanaa University, said "the beekeepers risk airstrikes and land mines as they move between valleys."
"Like Ali, many beekeepers keep traversing from a place to another carrying their hives on the back of trucks for seeking flowered trees... but they face the troubles of war," said Nashir, who is also the chief of the Cooperative League of Yemeni Beekeepers, a non-government syndicate covering 100,000 Yemeni beekeepers.
"Of course, the war has largely harmed the Yemeni honey industry as it has put many obstacles. Before the war, we used to export our honey via any means of transportation, but the war and blockade have largely reduced exports," Nashir added.
Abdulkarim al-Najdi, who owns one of the main honey shops in Sanaa, complained of war and the economic crisis.
"The war and the economic crisis have largely affected us. Before the war, my trade was very good and people bought much. But not now, not anymore," al-Najdi told Xinhua from his shop.
Despite all those difficulties and risks, many Yemeni beekeepers are still wandering between the forests of jujube trees amid harsh winter in order to produce the Sidr honey.
They bet the Yemeni famous Sidr honey is the most delicious to the last drop.
