Iraq News Now

EAST OF QAMISHLI, Syria — Sitting on a porch at the top of a walled garden, the 'bee king' of Rojava happily expounds on his favourite subject. 

There are "10 reasons why we are losing the bees," says Anas al-Qasim al-Arab, sitting up in his plastic chair and squaring his hands as he switches between Arabic and halting English to lecture on the causes of declining bee populations worldwide. 

Qasim, originally from Deir ez-Zor, has been keeping bees for 20 years. Now he's now on a mission to rescue the species threatened by global phenomena, exacerbated by the Syrian conflict.

When living in Deir ez-Zor, "Daesh was living with us... every day, every night, every time [there] was a bomb around us," he explained, using another term for the Islamic State group (ISIS). 

Anas al-Qasim al-Arab (R), the bee man from Deir ez-Zor, sits with his friend Hamza Said Siraj (L) in Siraj's garden where Qasim keeps his bees east of Qamishli on February 20, 2019. Photo: Hannah Lynch/Rudaw

During intense clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and ISIS, his bees were on Hawija Kati Island in the Euphrates River. He was not able to reach them for more than six months as the fighting raged. 

When ISIS finally pulled back and the battle zone moved down the river valley, Qasim was finally able to check on his decimated hives. Just 75 out of 300 survived. He collected what was left and moved to Rojava. 

The humble bee is an environmental keystone, playing a pivotal role in the pollination of plants as it zips from flower to flower collecting nectar. Roughly 90 percent of crops worldwide are pollinated by bees. Without them, there would be no agriculture. 

But their survival is under serious threat globally from a culmination of factors. Rising carbon dioxide levels, widespread use of pesticides, the prevalence of monoculture farming, and infectious mites are killing off bee populations worldwide, by as much as half in some areas. 

Last year, the United Nations marked World Bee Day for the first time to raise awareness of the importance of the bee. 

In Syria, farming practices are a major part of the problem. The regimes of Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez before him promoted single-crop farming. This turned Hasaka province, the breadbasket of Syria, into field after field of wheat and barley, which are not bee-friendly crops. 

Eight years of conflict in the country have exacerbated the situation. Bombs have contaminated the environment and polluted the air, and beekeepers have fled their land, or the country entirely. The smoke-spewing oil refineries don't help either.

There was once a healthy bee population in northeastern Syria and many skilled beekeepers. Now just a few small operations remain. 

"Because of the war, 90 percent of the bees were killed," Qasim estimated. 

Anas al-Qasim al-Arab places a bee on the back of his patient Brahim Yusuf on February 20, 2019. Photo: Hannah Lynch/Rudaw

A dose of Vitamin Bee

With his small number of hives and extensive knowledge of all things apian, Qasim has become something of a local celebrity — as a medicine man. 

Brahim Yusuf suffered with back pain for 20 years. He spent a fortune on doctors over the decades and was told he needed surgery at a cost of 1 million Syrian pounds ($2,000) — with no guarantee of success. 

A friend heard of the man with the bees who had treated another local woman. Though not quite ready to believe a bee sting could cure his back after so many doctors had tried and failed, desperate Yusuf decided to try his luck anyway. Barely able to walk, he first visited Qasim two months ago and began twice weekly treatments.

With a pair of tweezers, Qasim pulls a bee out of jar and gently places it on Yusuf's back, mottled with the marks of previous stings. About six stingers poke out of his skin and he patiently waits for another jab.

A bee prepares to sting patient Brahim Yusuf on February 20, 2019. Photo: Hannah Lynch/Rudaw

The bee stings seem to have done the trick.

"When I went to the doctor, I couldn't walk any distance," Yusuf recalled. "But now I can walk fine."

He stood up and paced around the porch to demonstrate his ability to move with ease.

As Qasim pulls the stingers out of Yusuf's back, he rattles off a list of people he has helped — a man with a bad knee, a woman with cancer. Three YPJ fighters stopped by his humble, buzzing garden, seeking treatment for their back pain. 

The medical benefits of bees have been known for centuries. Bee venom has proven effective in treating inflammatory illnesses and may even help combat cancer. 

Hamza Said Siraj suffered from knee problems that surgery did not fix. But the bees did. 

A farmer who owns land a few dozen kilometres east of Qamishli, Siraj has let his friend the beekeeper set up shop in his garden and Qasim is now teaching others about how to care for and reap the benefits of bees. 

Anas al-Qasim al-Arab fled conflict in Deir ez-Zor with his remaining 75 bee hives and his now living in Rojava, east of Qamishli. Photo: Hannah Lynch/Rudaw

He hopes local farmers will get on board so the species can thrive again. "No flowers - you can see, no flowers," Qasim said of the surrounding farmlands where wheat and barley prevail. 

As he waits for spring and hopes for flowers, he feeds his bees on sugar-water and honey.

Siraj is a convert to the cause of the bees and plans to replace his grain crops with bee-friendly flowering plants like fennel, rocket, and flax to help the bees return to northern Syria.

"Any environment that does not support bees will die," he said.