A few months ago, after the tragic fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, we wrote about the bee colonies kept on the building’s roof, and how they may be incorporated into the structure’s restoration (the bees, which weren’t on the part of the roof that collapsed, survived the fire).
I was reminded of this happy story when traveling in Berlin last month, where – after hiking the 400 (!) steps up to the top of the Berlin Cathedral (a.k.a. the Berliner Dom), one of the largest protestant cathedrals in the world – we discovered two bee colonies tucked away against a rooftop parapet wall
According to a plaque near the hives, they were placed by an initiative called “Berlin is Buzzing,” which aims to increase the awareness of bees and their benefits, and to help train young beekeepers.
The plaque makes a biblical case for housing the bees, but also says “Berlin should be an attractive place to live in, not only for residents and tourists – but also for animals, even the smallest.” (And wouldn’t that be a great goal for any city?)
If anyone knows of any churches in LA with rooftop bee colonies, we’d love to know about them!
