If you stop in the middle of Pont de Levallois and go down the steps that lead to Île de la Jatte, you’ll step into a lovely green haven just minutes from La Défense. The island's park, in front of the Maison de la Pêche et de la Nature, is home to no fewer than 22 hives. That means there are 1.2 million bees flitting among the acacias, lindens and other plants that bees love. In fact, all the vegetation in the city's public spaces is chosen to please pollinators. That's because Levallois-Perret is the first town in France to have installed hives in public spaces, and it did so on a large scale. With 22 hives on the island, 13 in Parc Alsace and more scattered about, the bees of Levallois produce almost a tonne of 1000-flower honey each year. The link between the bees and the town is strong: three bees adorn the town's coat of arms, representing the work of the industries that contributed to Levallois-Perret's prosperity.
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