Beehives installed on Assembly roof

THREE beehives in the colours of the French tricolore have been set up on the roof of the French National Assembly in Paris.

The blue, white and red hives will house 60,000 bees and the project is being overseen by the firm Lerouge Apiculture.

The company has operated a similar beehive on the roof of the French Senate, on the edge of the Jardins du Luxembourg, since the 1850s.

Lerouge will provide technical support and training to a group of Assembly workers, who will manage the beehives on an ongoing basis.

It is the latest in a series of initiatives from the Socialist president of the National Assembly, Claude Bartolone, who is keen to improve parliament's green credentials.

Other measures have included investing in a fleet of hybrid cars and signing up to a carbon offsetting promise to compensate for MPs' use of air travel.