每周阅读 第四周

佳琪

Beehives on the Rooftops of Paris
Bees and France go back a long way. In the 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte adopted the bee, which symbolizes hard work, zeal, and diligence, as a symbol of his French empire. A few decades later saw the birth of the beekeeping school in Luxembourg Gardens, which has had beehives in Paris since its foundation in 1865. In fact, around that time there were an estimated 2,000 hives in the city. Following that, the apiary culture waned for some time, but has made a comeback in recent years, with over 700 beehives in Paris currently. A number of these hives are kept, unbeknownst to the public, on the rooftops of some of the most famous Parisian landmarks, including Notre Dame, the Opéra Garnier, the Grand Palais, and the Musée d’Orsay. Others are kept on the roofs of famous hotels and restaurants such as the Mandarin-Oriental and La Tour d’Argent, while down below in the kitchens, chefs make use of the unique honey in scintillating desserts.

The most extraordinary feature of the bees and their honey is not even that they live on prime Parisian real estate, but the quantity, quality, and taste of the honey. To begin with, city bees produce three to five times more honey than do country bees, possibly in part because they aren’t exposed to pesticides. In Paris, pesticides are forbidden in all parks and gardens, whereas there is heavy use of them in the countryside. Rural French beekeepers lose up to 40 percent of their hives each year due to a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which may have at its source disease, exposure to pesticides, parasites, and loss of habitat. In contrast, urban beekeepers report losing less than five percent of their colonies each year.

“That’s all very well,” you might be thinking, “but isn’t Paris extremely polluted?” In fact, the pollution bafflingly does not seem to affect the honey (although it has been found in the beeswax). In one instance of testing, Parisian honey was analyzed for 30 pollutants and none were found.

As for the taste, Parisian apiaries have a distinct advantage over rural ones, as there is a diversity of flowers and exotic plants in Paris from all over the world for the bees to feed on, whereas the countryside offers mainly monocultures. The range of flora gives the honey a distinct taste, similar to cherry or bubblegum according to some, or, as described by Miel de Paris’ Audric de Campeau in an interview with Secrets of Paris, the honey has notes of “red fruit, lychee, citrus, and menthol.” Because of its complex and enchanting taste, it is sought out by chefs such as Jérôme Banctel of La Réserve Hotel. This use by famous chefs along with a culture of buying local has contributed to the honey’s popularity in Paris. Still, the honey comes at the hefty cost of about USD 65 per pound (whereas honey from the country costs around USD 12 to 23 per pound).

Aside from its cost, minor problems have arisen in relation to the apiaries. For instance, an excess of hives in one area can lead to less well-fed bees if the amount of flora isn’t sufficient, so beekeepers must coordinate and be careful not to crowd their hives. Another issue is tiny winged visitors at restaurants; one beekeeper was reportedly asked to remove his hives from the roof of Fouquet’s after his bees started drinking from the flower vases on the tables. However, most problems can be avoided if beekeepers are responsible about maintaining their hives. Technology can also be used to better monitor the hives, with cameras, microphones, and sensors that transmit information in real time to cell phones, allowing for precise and constant supervision.

Paris isn’t the only city to be buzzing with bees these days. Berlin, Tokyo, London, Washington D.C., and San Francisco all also have urban beehives (although in New York City beekeeping incurs a $2,000 fine). Many of these trending hives have sprung up in response to the global disaster that is CCD, in order to help increase local bee populations, but also to help raise awareness of this issue that has caused a disturbing decrease in the global bee population.

So the next time you’re in Paris, or maybe even in your hometown, “bee” on the lookout for some local honey. E-NEWS
巴黎屋顶上的蜂巢
蜜蜂和法国的关系可以追溯到很久以前。在19世纪，拿破仑·波拿巴将蜜蜂作为法国帝国的象征，因为它象征着努力工作、热情和勤奋，多年后卢森堡花园养蜂学校成立了，该学校在巴黎一直有蜂巢。在当时城市中大约有两千个蜂巢。此后，养蜂文化的热潮消退了一阵子，但近年来又卷土重来，目前巴黎有700多个蜂巢。其中一些蜂巢被保存在一些最著名的巴黎地标的屋顶上，其他的则保留在著名的酒店和餐馆的屋顶上。
蜜蜂和它们的蜂蜜最出众之处并非是它们生活在巴黎的主要建筑上，而是在蜂蜜的数量、质量和味道上。首先，城市蜜蜂的蜂蜜产量是乡村蜜蜂的三到五倍，部分原因可能是它们没有接触杀虫剂。
"一切都很好，"你可能会想，"但是巴黎不是污染严重吗？事实上，污染似乎并不影响蜂蜜，这有些让人费解。在一次测试中，对巴黎蜂蜜进行了30种污染物的分析，但没有发现任何污染物。
至于味道，巴黎的蜂蜜比农村的有明显的优势，因为巴黎有各种各样的花卉和植物，而农村提供主要是单一的植物。
巴黎并不是现在唯一蜂鸣的城市。柏林、东京、伦敦、华盛顿特区.C和旧金山都有城市蜂巢。这些蜂巢的出现是为了应对全球灾害，即CCD。