Lockdown gives Albanian beekeepers a 'golden year'

Beekeeper Skermo (left), handles a beehive's frame covered in bees at the Morava farm. Photo: AFP

With factories and farms silenced by the coronavirus shutdown, Albania's bees have been busier than ever, stirring excitement among farmers expecting an unparalleled honey harvest thanks to a respite from pollution and pesticides.

"It's a golden year for bees," says 68-year-old Gezim Skermo, dressed in a protective suit as he inspects his rows of wooden hives, lined up along the verdant base of Morava mountain in south-east Albania.