Brussels: City of Bees

This morning I helped get underway a meeting hosted by the Committee’s President, Staffan Nilsson, with the title ‘Brussels; City of Bees.’ The meeting hosted a discussion chaired by Dilyana Slavova, the EESC’s incoming President of its ‘NAT’ Section, with the following participants: Staffan Nilsson, Frederic Chemay (from the Belgian Federal Government’s Environment Ministry), Catherine Rousseau (from the Private Office of the Minister of the Environment) and Marc Wollast (representing Apis Bruoc Sella, the charitable organisation which is working to encourage the placing of more bee hives in urban areas). The Committee hosted this meeting because it is both concerned about the decline in bee populations and determined to encourage more urban hives. Faithful readers of this blog will know that the Committee has two hives on the roof of its flagship headquarters building, and the ‘guests’ included a few newly awoken bees, including the very big fellow in the picture!