The site where a brush fire started on June 4 in Veikou Grove, a wooded park near the northern Athens suburb of Filothei. [John Liakos/Intime News]
I have not tried honey from the northern suburb of Filothei, nor do I know if the apiaries from which the fire in the Veikou Grove allegedly broke out last week are owned by someone who produces honey for his own use or sells it.
Greek legislation on urban beekeeping, in force since the 1930s, allows its practice, but with ambiguities and unclear points, and needs immediate revision, according to experts.
Last year, when a fire broke out in Zografou, scaring local residents, the fire department found it had started in an area where undeclared apiaries had been kept. The apiaries remained for years within the university campus, at the foot of Mount Hymettus, next to an area full of pine trees, where the necessary fire safety measures had not been taken. The worst was avoided because the fire department mobilized very quickly.
What could have happened if the fire had not been promptly contained? Given that it was a day with a Category 4 fire risk index and the flames were close to densely populated areas, the destruction could have been very great indeed.
