Do you bee-lieve in miracles?
The bees that made their home inside three hives atop Paris’ iconic Notre Dame cathedral have survived this week’s massive blaze — even though the roof was almost completely destroyed, according to a new report.
A drone photo posted by the Paris-based urban beekeeping company Beeopic on its Instagram page appears to show all three hives — which were initially believed to have been destroyed in the blaze — still in place.
“An ounce of hope!” said the post, written in French on Tuesday. “The photos taken by different drones show that the three hives are still in place…and obviously intact!”
Then in a Thursday update, the page posted a picture of a cluster of bees on one of the cathedral’s gargoyles.
“Our bees from the Cathedral Notre-Dame De Paris are still alive!!” the caption said. “Confirmation from the site’s officials!! Our lady’s bees are still alive!”
Before the news of the bees’ survival became public, the cathedral’s beekeper Nicholas Géant told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that it was likely they endured the inferno.
“There are about 60,000 bees per hive, and we have three of them,” Géant told the outlet. “I think and I hope the bees survived….There has been a great relationship between church and bees for centuries. Many churchmen influenced modern beekeeping like Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey in England.”
The hives have occupied the historic house of worship’s roof since 2013, when they were placed there as part of a biodiversity project in Paris, according to the report.
French beekeeper Vanessa Hoo, who lives in Adelaide, Australia, told the ABC that the survival of the hives likely meant good news for the bees — but a lot of factors come into play.
“It really all depends on the hive and the colony, and how strong they are, and the environment they were in,” Hoo told the outlet.
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