A hungry woman made a raid bear in the hives at the foot of Mount Picos. According to the first estimates, the bear ate about 40 kilograms of honey and destroyed 15 to 20 hives.

The large mammal was “captured” by automatic cameras set up by members of the Callisto conservation organization after natural disasters were reported by residents of the wider Goumenissa area.

“The honey that the bear ate was last year’s honey, which the producers fed the bees. It still doesn’t have this year’s crop, it doesn’t have much bloom. The bear also ate the brood of bees,” Giorgos Theodoridis, communications manager for the organization, told APE-MPE.

He added that the bear appeared in the area at least 10 years ago and attributed its presence to the increase in its population, as well as food abounding at the foot of the Paikos.

“Especially this year, there were a lot of chestnuts left on the trees because the producers didn’t get good prices and didn’t harvest them, so there was a lot of food either on the branches or down on the ground,” he said. Theodorides remarked.

Bear scare radio

Since the beginning of February, when beekeepers discovered damage to their hives, the Forest Service and Callisto were notified, and representatives traveled to the site to inform residents about how to deal with and prevent damage.

“We advised growers to move the beehives inside electrified fences and put in a small radio to scare the noise and drive the animal away,” Mr. Theodoridis said.

More information on the prevention and treatment of damage caused by wild animals in crop production, beekeeping and animal husbandry will be presented at an open event organized by the Cultural Association of Goumenisa “Agios Tryphon”.

The speakers will be representatives of local government, the Forest Service, ELGA (Thessaloniki Branch), OFYPEKA (Western Macedonian Prespa National Park and Protected Areas Authority), Callisto and the LIFE ARCPROM project.

The event will take place tomorrow at 17:00 at the office of the Goumenissa Cultural Association “Agios Tryphon” (opposite the Goumenissa Town Hall).