Egypt's beekeepers under threat as economy slumps

Egypt's beekeepers say their hives are under threat because of a shortage of sugar, as are the flowers and crops that their bees pollinate.

Sugar became hard to find in recent months after the government took control of stocks to counter what it said was an epidemic of hoarding by merchants reacting to rising prices as a result of a shortage of foreign currency.

Bees are fed sugar to tide them over the winter and to compensate for honey harvested from their hives.

Beekeeping in Egypt can be traced back to the time of the Pharaohs, with the first hieroglyphs of bees dating back thousands of years.

"There is a sugar crisis and the bees have to receive nutrition through their winter hibernation," said commercial beekeeper Saeed Hagras.