Urban Beekeeping in Paris

:: Image via City Farmer News

I have already shared my interest in bees here and discussed how important moving bees into the urban context could be. An article in the Times describes just how successful urban bee keeping is in Paris.

There are about 300 registered beehives in the city found on buildings such as the Opera Garnier or the Grand Palais and in gardens such as the Tuileries and the Jardins du Luxembourg.

It turns out that the bees are particularly well suited to the urban environment, the warmth of the city promotes earlier breeding and it is free from the pesticides and fertilizers that are killing their country counterparts.

With a large number and diversity of flowers to pollinate, the urban bees are producing record amounts of honey. Up to 100kg of honey per hive annually, compared with the 20-25kg from typical hives on the cereal-producing plains of Ile-de-France, the surrounding region.