Operas Balance Baths, Bees

Opera productions are probably the most complex of all theatrical productions -- even without fussy extras (the bees living atop Paris' Opera House) and delicate sets (the 3rd -century archaeological site that serves as backdrop to Rome's outdoor Opera performances).

The New York Times recently visited the roof of Palais Garnier, the famous Baroque opera house in the center of Paris, with beekeeper Jean Paucton. Paucton tends the five hives of honey-producing bees that live up there.

Paucton was a prop man at the Opera when his first batch of bees were delivered to the Palais. On the side, he had been studying at the city's 150-year-old beekeeping school at Jardin du Luxembourg, and the hive was intended for his country home. A hitch in his schedule kept him from getting the bees immediately to the country, but they could not survive in their box. With the help of an Opera facilities man, he opened the box on the Palais roof to give the bees a temporary home. When he returned a few days later to get them ready for their move out of town, he was surprised to find the hive already full of honey.

The bees were staying put. Paucton says, "They make more honey here than they do in the countryside." The chestnut trees in the Champs Elysee and the linden trees at the Palais Royal give the bees plenty of nourishment, although Paris' profusion of fragrant blooms gives Paucton's honey an exceptionally strong flowery flavor. People can buy his product (now made by 75,000 bees at a rate of more than 1,000 pounds per year) at the Opera's gift shop and at gourmet shop Fauchon. Or they can join him on the Palais' narrow 7th-story ledge, dodging angry bees under the smiling stone face of Comedy, and get it fresh.

During that period, literally hundreds of thousands of visitors would swarm the site each summer, along with some productions' stage animals (including elephants), and on occasion producers would lean their sets against the ancient stone pillars.

On July 24, after a 10-year hiatus, opera-goers heard Bizet's "Carmen" with the immense orange-lit ruins as a backdrop, and immersed in the sounds of the night (crickets, yes, but also traffic).

The concerns about the site led to some changes. The productions are further away from the ruins than before, and animals are not allowed on the property. Even sets have been scaled back, showing more of the ruins themselves and leading to what some have called a "minimalist" or "modern, even abstract" approach.

Audiences miss some of the old ways but note that the setting is still one of the world's most striking opera performance venues.

Read the New York Times article about the operatic bees [fee required]

Visit the Opera National de Paris

See the archaeological site of Caracalla

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