Conflict leaves a Lebanese beekeeper cut off from most of his hives, in photos

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HASBAYA, Lebanon (AP) — For nearly two years, beekeeper Selim Sharaf has been unable to reach about 150 of his 200 beehives near the southern Lebanese border village of Mari.

The hives remain in an area where Israeli troops are present, leaving Sharaf uncertain whether the colonies survived, were destroyed during the fighting or dispersed after being left unattended.

The loss has crippled his honey production. Since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began, Sharaf says he has not harvested a meaningful honey crop, with his remaining hives producing little more than what the bees need to survive. Unable to access most of his colonies, he relocated about 50 hives to olive groves near his hometown of Hasbaya.

But the new location is far from ideal. With fewer flowering plants and less forage available, the bees struggle to thrive. As he tends the surviving colonies and inspects frames buzzing with bees, Sharaf worries that years of work building his beekeeping business may have been lost in the inaccessible border area. Empty hive boxes left behind near the frontier are a reminder that the fate of most of his colonies remains unknown.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.