Stung by drought, Morocco's bees decimated

Morocco's village of Inzerki is proud to claim it has the world's oldest and largest collective beehive, but recently, the colonies have collapsed amid crippling drought. In Morocco's village of Inzerki, in the south west of the country, silence has replaced the intense buzzing sound heard during Springtime. The great bee colonies that once lived there have collapsed because of severe drought. An ecological and economic disaster for this village which relies on the sustainability of this activity.

"The Inzerki beehive is the biggest and oldest collective beehive in the world. Its location is one hundred percent strategic and it is bathed in sunlight all day long. It is located in the middle of the forest, and since the bees are next to the forest, the yield is better. ", says Brahim Chatoui, a beekeeper in this area. 

The beekeeper says he has lost almost a third of his hives in just two months and hopes that the rain will eventually come to save the rest of his bees, " The goal is not to get honey, but to preserve the beehive and keep my bees alive." , he adds.

In order to support beekeepers and investigate on the cause of this disaster, the government released 13 million dollars. Experts ruled out disease as a reason, blaming it on the country's worst drought in three decades driven by climate change.