French beekeepers are declaring a minor "miracle" after a rooftop colony of the insects was found to have survived the Notre Dame cathedral inferno.
The fire in the central Paris cathedral blazed for several hours on Tuesday, damaging the roof and causing the spire to collapse.
Following the fire, there were concerns that a colony of bees had perished in the inferno, despite drone photos appearing to show intact beehives on the cathedral's roof.
The hives have been on the roof since 2013 as part of a Parisian biodiversity project that placed bee colonies around the city, in parks and on iconic landmarks.
French urban apiculture company Beeopic, which maintains the hives, has confirmed the insects' survival on its Instagram page, accompanied by the message: #miracle.
"Notre Dame's bees are still alive!" the post buzzed.
Earlier, the company expressed cautious optimism about the bees' fate.
"An ounce of hope! The pictures taken by different drones show that the three hives are still in place … and obviously intact!" a translation of the post said.
Notre Dame beekeeper Nicolas Geant described the fire as a "great sadness".
"There are about 60,000 bees per hive, and we have three of them," he said.
"There has been a great relationship between church and bees for centuries.
"Many churchmen influenced modern beekeeping like Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey in England."
Notre Dame's official website said the hives were part of push to support the local environment.
"Their role is indispensable in nature. The presence of bees is a sign of the good health of our environment and their preservation is also saving the planet," a translation said.
Bees may have hidden in hives
French apiarist Vanessa Hoo, who lives in Adelaide, has been keenly following the project from afar.
"If it was very cold that day, maybe they decided to stay inside of the hive," she said.
"At a fire in Victoria during summer, the house burned down, and the hive itself survived.
"You could see the clear lines of the ashes all around it, and the bees survived.
"The bees were there, and the flames would have been 50 centimetres away."
However, she said prolonged heat often impacted hives as the wax softened.
"It really all depends on the hive and the colony, and how strong they are, and the environment they were in," she said.
