In an agricultural area teeming with orange trees in the Tufah neighborhood east of Gaza City, Imad Ghazal lifts honeycombs out of his beehives, which produce the combs throughout the year. He will move them to a machine for extracting the honey, which is then put into cans of different sizes and sold in the local markets.

Ghazal began working as a beekeeper more than 20 years ago. He had previously spent several years working in the same field in Israeli beekeeping farms, during which time he pursued a degree in theoretical and practical beekeeping and honey production at the Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research.

There are nearly 300 beekeepers and honey-production workers in the Gaza Strip. They own approximately 20,000 beehives, each producing around 10 kg (22 lbs) of honey per year. The total domestic production in the Strip reaches almost 280 tons and covers 60% of local demand.

The honey-production cycle in Gaza consists of several stages starting from May each year, during which wooden bars are prepared for the bees to occupy. From Israel, the bee-farm, or apiary, owners import Italian queen bees and crude wax, from which the bees build their hexagonal honeycomb cells. The wooden bars are kept in the prepared wooden boxes and placed in green pastures. In winter, when the bees cannot leave their hives due to the cold weather, they are fed until harvest season in April.