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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsNotre Dame's Bees Seem to Have Survived the Blaze A little bit of sweet news.
Notre Dames Bees Seem to Have Survived the Blaze
A little bit of sweet news.
by Jessica Leigh Hester April 19, 2019
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/notre-dame-bees-survived-the-fire
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Beekeepers tend to hives atop several Paris landmarks, including the Opéra Garnier, Musée dOrsay, and Notre Dame. More than 180,000 honeybees were said to flit around the hives atop the sacristy, their honey doled out among cathedral staff. So when a blaze recently torched Notre Dames wood roof and demolished the spire, apiarists were eager to know how the colonies had fared.
For the beekeeper Nicolas Géant, who cares for Notre Dames hives, aerial images of the scorched building were a good omen. If you look at the photos from the sky, you see that everything is burnt, there are holes in the roof, but you can still see the three beehives, Géant told NBC News.
The hives are stacked slightly below the portion of the roof that went up in the flames. The fact that the hives hadnt burned was promising, but it didnt necessarily mean that the bees had survived the clouds of hot, gray smoke. (Géant explained to CNN that its possible that the hives would have handled that alright, since beekeepers regularly blow cold smoke into hives to lull bees into a honey-feast stupor while the humans do their work.) Then, a few days after the blaze, he got the news he had been waiting for: A cathedral spokesperson told him that bees had been seen buzzing around the hives, the Agence France-Presse reported. At least some winged residents had made it through.
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CaliforniaPeggy
(149,663 posts)Laffy Kat
(16,385 posts)That is the question.
Brother Buzz
(36,449 posts)For mystical reasons the Church prescribes that the candles used at Mass and at other liturgical functions be made of beeswax.
I suspect the priests would be happy to turn the honey into mead.
Laffy Kat
(16,385 posts)My knowledge of Catholicism could be written on the back of a matchbook. Now that I think about it, though, I understand the beeswax, the purity of it all. Thanks.
Brother Buzz
(36,449 posts)but I suspect they pull out the good stuff for special services.
I grew up in a UCC church and can say with authority we only used 14" white paraffin wax taper candles, procured from the local hardware store (we were thrifty). I also learned how to remove wax from the carpets. I was VERY good at it.
Laffy Kat
(16,385 posts)The Memphis Church of the River. I left Memphis in '80 and eventually gave up all religion, but enjoy hearing and learning about others' experiences and beliefs. The UU fellowship I belonged to out here for a while, also had the white paraffin candles, also purchased in bulk.