From rooftops to honey jars, Athens is abuzz with urban beekeeping

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Nikos Chatzilias spends his days tending to buzzing bee colonies with a unique view out over the rooftops of Greece’s capital.

He is among the dozens of Athenians who have embraced urban beekeeping to support local ecosystems, reconnect with nature and enjoy honey flavored by each neighborhood’s local plants and flowers.

Chatzilias, 37, was a heavy honey consumer, eating it with bread and tea for breakfast and using it to replace sugar everywhere else, including in cookies and other sweets. He grew dissatisfied with run-of-the-mill product and decided to make his own, signing up for beekeeping classes in 2020 and becoming a professional shortly thereafter.

“I saw that it worked really well for the hives. For us, the daily contact with the bees brought us a lot