April 2019 is a month that will always be remembered by the French, but for a heartbreaking reason. On the 15th of that month, a fire broke out in Notre-Dame that raged for a devastating 15 hours. When the blaze was finally put out, the historic building was heavily damaged, with its flèche – the towering spire – entirely destroyed. However, despite the fire causing complete chaos, something miraculous happened in the cathedral that had people lost for words.
Saving The Bees
You may or may not have heard that the bees are disappearing. They, like so many other species, are slowly being wiped out because of what we’re doing to the environment. People in Paris were well aware of this, so to try and combat their potential extinction, they established a set of hives in Notre-Dame. Around 180,000 bees were given a home here with the hope they could live and thrive in peace. These were set up in 2013 and seemed like a great way to keep the insects safe… until the place erupted in flames several years later.
Safe And Sound
Following the devastating fire, many people were mourning the destruction of one of Paris’ most historic buildings. However, those who were aware of the hives were more concerned about whether or not the thousands of bees survived the blaze. At first, it seemed like they’d succumbed to the fire, but then a satellite image revealed that the hives remained intact. The bees were still there buzzing around, but how is that possible after being exposed to so much smoke and flames?
Off To Sleep
Unlike humans, bees don’t have lungs, so it’s not possible for them to perish from smoke inhalation. Instead, the CO2 makes the insects docile, and in large quantities, it can knock them out. So, when the fire erupted in Notre-Dame, the smoke sent them all to sleep while the building around them burned. Thankfully, the hives were far enough away from the actual flames that they didn’t get affected by the fire, so the bees lived to buzz another day.
Who knew that bees were so capable of surviving such devastation? Rather than losing their lives in the fire, they instead just slept through the whole thing then continued their lives as normal. If you ever needed proof that you can sleep your problems away, we’d say that this was it.