20 November 2014
After World
War I, American soldiers, mostly farm boys before the war, came home from
Europe. After such a long stay in
metropolitan France, someone had to ask the question. And those someone’s were songwriters
Donaldson, Young and Lewis with their song . . . “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on
the Farm?”
The words,
in part, go like this:
How ya gonna keep 'em
down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
After they've seen Paree'
What does
this have to do with honeybees? Well, .
. . same problem, different century.
Lately,
honeybees have become fashionable guests in the highest circles of high
society. Residing at some of the most
exclusive hotels in the world, these working residents produce honey for those
same hotels’ finest cuisine. These guest/resident
bees are, also, quite an attraction with guests being allowed limited visits as
these bees work and relax in their exclusive accommodations on the highest
balconies and rooftops.
After a few
months enjoying the best views of any of these hotels’ accommodations, well, it’s got
to turn the head of even the most “down-to-earth” worker bee. Bees are residing at the Waldorf in New
York. But imagine the effect of the view
from a Paris hotel rooftop.
And a
honeybee guest in a Paris hotel would certainly not find themselves alone in
the city. Not only are many, many
honeybees also guests in the city’s other hotels, but beekeeping is “all the
rage” in Paris this season.
Ah, but one
might ask – how will these nature-loving, wild insects adapt to the hustle and
bustle of city life? One imagines their
beekeeper moving them to the rooftop of a Paris hotel and secretly wondering
how his country-bees will fare in the sophisticated and cosmopolitan city. Do these simple farm-bees really have a
chance to thrive and produce the honey they love amid the splendor, but also
the decadence, of the any of the largest and oldest cities on earth?
They sure
do!
To the
surprise of almost everyone, not only have the honeybees in Paris thrived but,
in terms of honey, they’re out-producing their country cousins with ease. If you want productive beekeeping in France,
you really must bring your bees to Paris and forget the countryside.
But the
“city”! Aren’t cities unnatural
environments? Wouldn’t the bees prefer
the natural countryside to the sophistication of city life?
Apparently,
not.
In fact,
the best guess is that being “down on the farm” isn’t what it once was. Why?
Because the farm isn’t what it once was.
Modern
farming is, in fact, less bee-friendly than it used to be. With fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides,
farms don’t need to leave some of the land fallow (unplanted) anymore. All the land is planted and, after the
harvest, nothing – yes, nothing – is left.
In those fallow fields, wild grasses with wild flowers used to grow. And the blossoms provided the bees with a source of nectar and pollen.
But, no more.
And modern
farms are not only free from the threat of soil depletion and crop disease;
they are also free from the threat of insect pests thanks to extremely
effective pesticides. These potent
chemicals can, and are, carefully applied to protect bee populations, but any
toxin in the environment can still be a hazard for the increasingly
marginalized country-bee.
After that
stroll through the battleground of the, once idyllic, countryside, you can
guess how you would feel if you were a bee arriving in Paris. Particularly, if you were one of those privileged
bees who was about to make your home on an exclusive hotel rooftop. Not only will you receive regular, concerned
visits from the hotel chefs, but you are a celebrity to the most exclusive of
guests who, from time to time, crowd in just to catch a glimpse of you.
And if
correspondents from the BBC drop by the hotel, they might not be looking for
that ambassador, tycoon, or socialite.
They may be checking to see how you
are enjoying your stay in Paris.
M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
& Belleville, Illinois
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