Armand Arnal & Thierry Dufresne: Cross-pollination
The former is the chef at La Chassagnette, in Arles, the latter a former luxury goods executive turned beekeeper-harvester, founder of the La Manufacture du Miel brand in 2010 and of the Observatoire français d'apidologie in 2014. Armand Arnal and Thierry Dufresne talk about their love of bees and the importance of protecting these garden sentinels. In the chef's hyper-pollinating kitchen garden, a flight from the Arles flamingo, we witnessed these two biodiversity enthusiasts foraging.
Why did you both become interested in bees? What triggered your interest?
THIERRY DUFRESNE : In 2010, when my grey hairs were coming in, my career in the fashion world was coming to an end and retirement was approaching, I thought it was important for entrepreneurs who still had energy and a network to try and do something for future generations. At the same time, I became a grandfather for the first time. I told myself that this granddaughter wasn't going to ask me what my life with Karl Lagerfeld had been like, because she might not even know who he was, but she would say to me: "You who were part of a privileged generation, what did you really do for us? "I then became interested in the subject of bees and their importance for the development of biodiversity. When you come from Paris and come from the world of luxury, people might think, "Who's this asshole coming to take care of the bees? "So I tried to educate myself and gain legitimacy by creating a large apiary with 450 hives on the Sainte-Baume.
ARMAND ARNAL: When you're in contact with plants, as we are here at La Chassagnette, and you observe things, you realize that a meeting takes place between plants and insects. There's a dialogue going on: plants want to seduce bees, and vice versa. Meeting the OFA (Observatoire français d'apidologie) meant meeting people with whom we could continue this dialogue, without having to be productive. We're not trying to make too much honey here!
