French Christians, art historians and beekeepers are currently celebrating a number of “miracles” amid the damage from the first that took place at Notre Dame earlier this month.
The fire was incredibly costly, but it appears that a rooftop colony of bees were found to have survived.
French beekeeping company Beeopic, which takes care of hives at the historic cathedral, shared a picture of the surviving bees on Instagram, along with a message from the site manager that confirms that “nos abeilles” (“our bees”) are still on site.
“Instead of killing them, the CO2 (from smoke) makes them drunk, puts them to sleep,” Notre Dame beekeeper Nicolas Geant said to the Associated Press.
“It’s a big day. I am so relieved. I saw satellite photos that showed the three hives didn’t burn,” he added.
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Judith Kagan, who currently is employed by the French Culture Ministry, said that the fmales, soot and water didn’t actually end up reaching inside cathedral walls, so a good bit of the artwork inside wasn’t majorly damaged, according to the AP.
Those works have been moved to a safe place away from the cathedral, Kagan told the AP.
The full review of the cathedral and the damage that was sustained is anticipated to take days or weeks, according to another culture minister.
