How climate change is affecting bees – and why we should all be worried

Gaza has only one honey-producing season, which begins with the onset of the warmer weather in March and lasts until the first week of May. This usually sets up Gaza'a honey production for the year, with 200 tonnes produced. But this year the weather stayed cold with unexpected downpours until the second week of April, and then became unusually hot. The prolonged cold affected the blossoming of Gaza’s many citrus orchards and vegetable crops, leaving the bees with fewer flowers from which to collect nectar when the weather turned warmer and then too hot. These wild swings in the weather have cut honey production in the Gaza Strip by almost a third and are threatening the territory’s bee population. On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Ahmed Maher looks at how the decline of the bee population is threatening food security and whether climate change is to blame.