Bees Kept on Notre Dames Roof Survived The Fire!

The Fire's Impact on Notre Dame Cathedral

The recent fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris gripped people around the world with fear of the famous church's fate. The good news is that even though there was a lot of damage which will take years to rebuild, the church is still salvageable. What many people didn't know is that the famous cathedral was also home to 200,000 bees that were living on the roof of Notre Dame, and the bees also survived the fire. The three beehives were put on the cathedral's rooftop in 2013 for a biodiversity project by Nicolas Geant. Geant said that the bees were going in and out of their homes shortly after the blaze was put out.

The Honey Production and Survival of the Beehives

Each beehive produces about 55 pounds of honey each year which is sold to the staff at Notre Dame. Geant was extremely happy to announce that his beehives have survived the fire that was raging for over 12 hours in April 2019. The fire destroyed the church spire and almost all of the ornate centuries-old roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Geant had thought that the three hives had burned in the fire, but when he saw the satellite images, he realized that was not the case, and that the bees were going in and out of the hives. Good news.

The Bees' Resilience Post-Fire

The bees that live on the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral are alive and buzzing, and have survived the devastating fire that ripped through the famous cathedral. It's great news that the bees are flying in and out of the hives, which means that the bees are still alive. Right after the fire he looked at the drone pictures and saw that the beehives weren't burnt, but there was no way of knowing whether or not the bees had survived until he saw that there was still activity. Notre Dame Cathedral has housed three beehives on the first floor on a roof over the sacristy, which is just beneath the rose window, since 2013. Each beehive houses about 60,000 bees. Geant said the beehives were not affected by the fire because they are located about 100 feet below the main roof where the fire spread.

The Factors Contributing to the Bees' Survival

The bee was not in the middle of the fire, had they been then they would not have survived. The beehives are made of wood so they would have easily gone up in flames. Wax melts at 143 degrees F; if the beehive had reached that temperature the wax would have melted and would have glued the bees together, they would have all perished. While it is likely that the beehives were filled with smoke, that doesn't impact the same as it would with humans. Bees don't have lungs like humans, and secondly, for centuries to work with the bees, bee smokers have been used. A bee smoker is a box with bellows which produces a white, thick cold smoke in the beehives, which prompts the bees to calmly gorge on the honey while the beekeepers do their work. Geant said he wouldn't be able to tell whether all of the bees from the hives are alive until he was able to inspect the beehive site, but he is confident because the beehives didn't burn, and because bees have been spotted flying in and out of the hives.