https://reasonstobecheerful.world/yemeni-tradition-bees-tazeeb/
"As beekeeper Mosad Al-Humairi watched the truck carrying 48 of his beehives
lurch to one side, its right wheels sinking dangerously in the muddy road and
its top tilting towards a drop fewer than two meters away, his world came to a
sharp halt. The 288-kilometer journey from Ibb in central Yemen to Al-Usaymat
in the northern Amran province was meant to multiply his bees and boost their
productivity. Instead, the continuous rainfall turned an unpaved stretch of
road into a trap of muddy holes, pushing his livelihood to the edge of
disaster.
“For what felt like an eternity, I stood frozen, fearing the loss of half my
bees as my three sons scrambled to stabilize the truck,” he says of that
fateful early September night.
Al-Humairi had already waited an extra week for the weather to clear so he
could transport his beehives from the highlands of Ibb, where he had stayed
since March, to Al-Usaymat, where the flowering season for the endemic Sidr
tree had begun. These were a priceless seven days in the short lifespan of the
prized Sidr flower, which blooms from mid-September to mid-November, and for
which Yemeni honey is globally acclaimed. Not willing to lose more valuable
time, he loaded his beehives onto two trucks and got on the road, braving the
weather. The journey had to be made at night, to ensure that all the bees had
returned to their hives for the day.
This age-old practice of seasonal migration, known as
Tazeeb, is an integral
part of the lives of Yemen’s people. With many being cattle herders, they are
accustomed to the nomadic ways of navigating the country’s arid landscape in
search of grazing land for their livestock. As climate change drives up
temperatures and reduces rainfall in one of the world’s most water-scarce
countries, Yemen’s beekeepers have recently adopted the nomadic practice in
pursuit of blooming flowers to make the best of the country’s diverse and
fragile ecosystems.
The impact Yemen’s mobile apiaries have had on bee numbers and productivity,
according to experts and beekeepers, is remarkable. According to Yemen’s
Ministry of Agriculture, the number of beehives surged by over 100,000 between
2017 and 2020 alone."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics