Bees?!

We have had about six bees fly into our room within the last couple hours which seemed unusually high, so naturally I googled “bees in Paris” and the result was more interesting than I expected.

An article actually entitled “Bees in Paris” by Franco Zecchin begins by saying that hives are sprouting up on building all over Paris thanks to fewer pesticides and a wider variety of plants and trees supporting bee colonies. The article then goes on to talk about a man names Jean Paucton. Jean Paucton has been farming bees on the roof of the Paris Opera House for the last 25 years. The 75 year old harvests honey from he bees and which is then sold in the Opera House gift shop. He also says that the hives that he keeps in the city are actually healthier than the ones that he keeps in the country.

A report from BBC said that Paris is quickly becoming the Urban beekeeping capital of the world. A city-wide ban on pesticides and the widespread availability of a variety of plants and flowers encourage healthy bee colonies, as opposed to in the country, where a singular crop often dominates larges areas of land and the farmers often use pesticides. According to this report, honey made in Paris contained more than 250 different pollens while in the countryside it can contain as few as 15. With the dramatic decline of bee populations in recent years the success of this effort is uplifting.

As of 2016 the Paris Opera was home to about 50,000 new bees in the roof of the Opera Bastille to mirror the success of the hives on the roof of the Opera Garnier. Paris has also made an effort in recent years to introduce green rooftops and solar panels on commercial buildings. Green roofs provide habitat for birds, absorb air pollutants, retain rainwater, and reduce what is known as the urban heat island effect caused, in part, by a concentration of concrete building and asphalt which raises the air temperature. It also makes previously unusable rooftop space productive. The growth of rooftop bee farming seems like a great addition to that movement and in the meantime, I’ll be sure to pick up some opera-bee honey.

Jean Paucton and his hives on the roof of the Opera Garnier

(untappedcities.com)