Thousands of years ago, a group of adolescent bees became trapped in cocoons inside their nest and left behind a remarkably preserved record of their “mummified” remains.

Researchers in Portugal reported the discovery of the ancient insects and fossilized bee nest — the first to be found with bees preserved inside it — in a study published July 27 in the journal Papers in Palaeontology.

“This new fossil site is a remarkable opportunity to better understand bee nesting behaviors and their evolution, because we can be face to face with the users of the nests,” lead study author Carlos Neto de Carvalho, a paleontologist at the Naturtejo UNESCO Global Geopark in Portugal, told Live Science in an email.

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(Image credit: Andrea Baucon., Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon)