Three beehives containing nearly 180,000 bees which were kept on the roof of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris France have survived the blaze which almost destroyed the 850-year-old church. 

The hives produced nearly 50 lbs of honey annually which was sold to the staff of the cathedral.

 The bees were kept there as a project by beekeeper Nicolas Geant, as part of a biodiversity project. The original installation of the bees was back in 2013, and they have lived relatively risk-free lives until April 15th, 2019 when a fire engulfed the Notre Dame cathedral. The fire raged for 12 hours and destroyed the main spire and nearly all of the 13th century, beautiful, hand-crafted, ornate roof. Luckily for the bees, the blaze left the portion of the roof holding them unsinged.

Nicolas Geant, kept in the dark for several days, was able to finally hear the news, saying "Until this morning, I had no new news". 

"At first, I thought the hives had burned but I had no information after Monday's fire. Then I saw from satellite images that this was not the case and then the cathedral spokesman told me that they were going into and out of the hives" Nicolas adds.

We here at Funny Bug Bees mourn with the French people. A great work of art and a symbol of the French people are in ruins. As beekeepers though, we are so happy to hear about the fate of the hives located there.