Place de la Concorde

We were on our way back to Gare du Nord on our way home, passing by the obelisk at Place de la Concorde, and I wondered, just wondered if perhaps there were any bee hieroglyphs on it...

Can you spot any?

Les Jardins de Luxembourg

Well I finally managed to get here! It took a while. We took time out from our weekend in Paris to seek out the beehives in Les Jardins de Luxembourg.

It's been a beautiful day here; warm and sunny. In fact perfect for walking around the city. We climbed the Eiffel Tower, ate patisserie, drank beer, and generally wandered about. But we saw the bees!  And they were really active, which I guess was no surprise. 

I feel somewhat rejuvenated after seeing them! I've clearly missed my bees and I got a real feeling of peace and calm just watching them for a while. I must now make extra efforts to arrange nucs for the spring!

So, my observations at Les Jardins...

1) Their deeps are really quite "deep".

2) I like the bold geometric shapes used to help the bees distinguish between hives.

3) They make a lot of honey. Did you see the number of supers stacked in the gazebo? I counted 18 hives.

4) Nobody was bothered by the bees, which is impressive given the number in such close proximity to the public. But I guess if you've been keeping bees in the same place for over 150 years everyone gets used to the idea!

So where to next!  I think perhaps a trip to Buckfast Abbey!