The earthquake-affected beekeeper smiled with the bountiful early honey harvest.

With the rainy winter and early arrival of spring in Hatay, the harvest season for beekeepers has started early. Earthquake survivor beekeeper Ismail Akyüz stated that this year’s harvest is more productive compared to last year.

In the Mediterranean region, nature was adorned with a riot of colors as flowers bloomed due to the rainy winter and spring. With the early blooming of flowers, bees started their honey-making work earlier than usual. Ismail Akyüz, a disaster victim who lives in the Harbiye neighborhood of the Defne district and keeps 350 hives, also began harvesting earlier due to the early start of the bees’ honey-making. Akyüz, who has been beekeeping for years, noted that last year’s honey harvest was not good due to drought, and said that this year’s harvest is more productive due to the increased rainfall.

“This year’s harvest is more productive compared to last year’s harvest.”

Beekeeper Ismail Akyüz expressed that this year’s harvest is more productive compared to last year, saying, “This year, with the abundance of spring rains, we experienced a mild and beautiful spring season. The spring flowers bloomed early this year. With the early blooming of the spring flowers, our bees started their work early. As Mother Earth was saturated with rains, the plants stayed in bloom for a long time. Our bees, which we have been trying to keep healthy, took full advantage of this opportunity and gathered abundance for us. We are happy about this. I wish a prosperous season, earned through hard work, to all my beekeeper friends. Last year, there was drought. It was a cold winter, but this year, due to the mild season, Mother Earth was saturated with rains, which brought us abundance as well. Thank God, this year’s harvest is more productive compared to last year’s harvest. We haven’t finalized our plans yet because we are still in the extraction process. The extraction is not over yet. Hopefully, after we finalize our plans, we will evaluate the most suitable price according to everyone’s purchasing power and present it to our market.”