San Sperate, queen bees saved from the fire: "A priceless genetic heritage."

"June hasn't arrived yet, but the fires are here. Every year they destroy thousands of hives, but not today. Today we saved them all."

The workers of the award-winning Terrantiga company in San Sperate, which produces honey and its derivatives, had to fight fires to save a priceless heritage of biodiversity. The bees were stunned by the blaze two days ago, but this time they survived.

The danger averted was enormous: "Our mother hives were also the ones that contain the queen bees, which are selected for their docility, adaptation to the territory, and natural ability to defend themselves from parasites and climate change," the company explains.

Director Francesco Caboni, exhausted after the operation, explains that "every time we have to replace a few hives, sometimes three at a time, but this time we were able to intervene quickly and save our queens: they are an invaluable asset, numerically limited but environmentally enormous."

(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)