Notre Dame fire – Colony of 150,000 bees feared dead after they were kept in roof for treasured conservation project

A COLONY of 150,000 bees that were kept in Notre Dame for a conservation project is feared dead due to the fire.

The bees had been installed in the roof of the gothic cathedral in 2013 as a way of revitalising the insects and encourage urban beekeeping in Paris.

The company looking after the bees, Beeopic, had three hives at the site with each one housing around 50,000 each.

The hives were put up over the sacristy, near the Juan XXIII square by Nicolas Geant, a director of Beeopic which also runs a number of hives across the French capital.

But a devastating fire on April 15 which raged for hours ripped through the roof of the Notre Dame cathedral and destroyed the 300ft spire.

A drone used by the fire brigade to survey the extent of the damaged roof revealed that the actual hives had been spared in the blaze by just a few meters.

However while the hives might actually be still standing the fate of the actual bees may not been such good shape.

Beeopic fears that due to the closeness of the fire as well as smoke, high temperatures and the water used to extinguish the blaze the bees themselves may not have survived, reports Catalan newspaper .

Beeopic said in a statement: “Smoke, heat, water … we will see if our brave bees are still with us as soon as we have access to the area.”

The official website of Notre Dame says: “Notre Dame de Paris, which houses this hive, is completely associated with the preservation of dynamic biodiversity and wishes to remember the beauty of Creation and the responsibility of man with respect to it.”

It added the role of bees “is essential in nature, their presence is a sign of good health of our environment and their preservation is also saving the planet.”

The bees housed in the cathedral were the Brother Adam variety, a breed created about a 100 years ago by hybridisation of bee varieties which are resistant to diseases such as acariosis.