HIVE IN A STATUE

Evening Star, Issue 20980, 19 December 1931, Page 22

HIVE IN A STATUE

BEES' STRANGE HOME It might have been thought thal there were many beehives in Paris,; for there are in abundance in certain public and private gardens. _ It appears, however, that the only hives known to the French Apicultural Society are those in the Luxembourg and in the Parc Montsouris. The latter, were deserted, and Ijhose in the Luxembourg are maintained for a school of apiculturists, where _on Tuesdays and Saturday mornings in the months of April, May, and June free lessons in the art of keeping bees are given. Those lessons, it is found, disturb the little insects, and the amount of honey produced in a year does not often exceed from 201 bto 301 b. It is usually given to the employees who look after the hives. There is reason to believe that a number of unofficial hives exist in inaccessible comers of Paris buildings. One has been discovered in tho famous statue of Casirair Perier, in the cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise. The bees have found a small hole in the bronze neck of this statue, and this aperture has become the entrance of their home., The gift of eloquence—always associated with honey—has been bestowed, upon this politician- posthumously.