Here at Doc40 we’ve tracked the fortunes of bees for a number of years. Usually word from the bee world is not good, but the wonderful Valerie has sent us something more than a little positive.
“Tourists are not the only ones swarming down the Champs-Elysees and through the Luxembourg gardens this summer. Thanks to a renewed interest in apiaries, Paris is fast becoming the urban bee-keeping capital of the world. The city now boasts some 400 hives and the number is growing steadily. Some are on the balconies of family apartments, others in public parks or on the roofs of famous buildings. Cultivation of a private honey store is now de rigueur for some of the top hotels and restaurants. The famous Tour d'Argent restaurant opposite Notre Dame Cathedral has just installed hives on its roof-top, as has The Westin hotel on the Rue de Rivoli. Driving the trend is growing public awareness of the crisis in rural bee-keeping caused by the collapse in bee numbers. Oddly, city bees are not just immune to the health problems facing their country cousins - they are also far more productive.” Click here for more
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I've been taken to see a couple of semi secret community gardens w/apiaries in San Francisco. There's a reason why they're semi secret. Somebody attacked some hives with pesticide at one of the better known community gardens. Creepy.
ReplyDeleteThe likely conclusion is that there's fewer pesticides (and GMO crops, if that's your current worry) inside a city than in the country.
ReplyDelete(Pace Jon's sad story above.)