Ethiopia, an East African country with a population of around 120 million, is the continent's largest producer of honey. Nectar is particularly important in Ethiopian culture, with yellow honey used to produce tej, a popular local mead.

Goshu Welealeabzgi, a specialist for the Tigray authorities' Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources, says 40 to 60 percent of hives were destroyed by the war.

War in Tigray between federal government troops and Tigrayan rebels that raged from 2020 to 2022

Before the conflict, he estimates there were 500,000 colonies in Tigray, with 200,000 people directly dependent on beekeeping, in a region of around six million inhabitants.

Bees were also victim to the environmental damage caused by the conflict, especially as desperate locals were forced to cut down trees, particularly the acacias that covered the hills, to sell or use for firewood.

"The conflict harmed everybody," he (Beekeeper Amanuel Hiluf) adds. "The sound of bullets has stopped, but there is still the sound of misery."