Today in the morning we have been in Anopolis….. great weather with amasing view!!
I am shocked about the conditions of the trees in the wood between Anopolis and high in the direction of Mouri…. they must have some kind of illness…. many trees have died quite completely…. others are, at the tree trunk so black so you think they burned down…. it is really a shame about this wood !!!!
On the way back then the really amasing view of Chora Sfakion and the whole coast…. unfortunatly had I my complete family with me, and they have been so terrible hungry that t I could not take more pictures!!!!
George
January 22, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Thank you Bettina for the great photos again.
And also for raising the subject of the dying pine trees.
This is very sad but you must talk to some of the honey producers in the area for that as some have been resisting the biological spraying of the trees as they prefer the short term benefit of more honey. The trees are dying because of a scale insect (Marchalina hellenica) that takes the sap off the trees and produces a white fluffy type of substance that the bees take and produce honey. The result is an increase in the production of honey at the expense of dying pine forests and a honey that doesn’t have the taste it used to have full of thyme flavor. The disease has been spreading further to the west and has reached Samaria. Some bee keepers now move their bees to areas that are not infested to get more flavorsome honey but it is getting harder to find real thyme honey in Sfakia today.
Here is an old article on this topic:
http://archive.ekathimerini.com/4Dcgi/4Dcgi/_w_articles_politics_11_09/05/2005_56121