The 200,000 bees living in three beehives atop the Notre Dame cathedral sacristy are safe, according to the BBC. The cathedral’s beekeeper, Nicolas Géant, confirmed on Saturday that firefighters were finally able to check the bees, which have been living on the church since 2013. Géant had expressed concern over the fate of his bees earlier in the week after seeing the hives intact on surveillance footage. Unlike some bee species that flee from smoke, the bees on Notre Dame are the kind that would have “stayed in their hive, gorging on honey and working to protect their queen,” according to the BBC. Géant was concerned that the extreme temperatures could have killed them. “Instead of killing them, the carbon dioxide makes them drunk, puts them to sleep,” he told the Associated Press.
