Story Archive

The Buzz in the Neighborhood

When a huge swarm of bees — an estimated 40,000 of them — lighted in a tree in Fredericksburg, Va., residents called the sheriff. They referred the call to animal control, who then called in Nathan Thompson, a beekeeper. Thompson was happy to help: he and his father arrived and, without bothering with gloves or mask, let alone a “bee suit,” clipped off the branch the bees were attached to and took them to a hive. The cone of bees hanging from the tree was 3ft tall and weighed about 40 pounds, which the Thompsons said was one of the largest swarms they had ever seen. “We definitely thought, ‘That’s a big one!’,” Nathan said. “We had a moment of reverence, admiration and ‘holy crap’,” and then got to work. The animal control officer knew Thompson, since he used to be a deputy at the sheriff’s department, and is currently the chief of the nearby Aquia Harbour Police Dept. (RC/Washington Post) ...And it says plenty that Chief Thompson would rather deal with 40,000 bees with his bare hands than the crooks and drunks in Aquia Harbour.