[Humor]
In Part 1 of this series, we examined the
strange case of a group of honeybees that swarmed the White House. These bees didn’t march or gather in the
streets. Instead they “occupied” a bush
in a strange foreshadowing of tactics used in the Occupy Wall Street
demonstrations soon to come. A
connection? No one knows. The White House bees were, apparently,
captured, but their fate remains unknown.
In Part 2, a short time after the bees had “occupied” a bush on the White House lawn, a swarm of bees descended on Wall Street. An
innocent frolic or determined protest? Who
can say? These bees were
captured quietly. Later, it
was revealed that the entire swarm had moved to Connecticut. All honeybee
swarms are homeless, so the move to pricey Connecticut raised questions.
And . . . these and other questions remain unanswered.
THE NEXT
CHAPTER
All of the relocated “Wall Street bees” have
remained curiously silent after their sudden move to the affluent, country club
laden, hills of Connecticut. But,
then, only a short time later, the bees reappeared in the Big Apple. But they didn’t arrive as a homeless
swarm. Instead, they appeared as seasonal
guests in some of New York’s finest Hotels. That takes more than
“honey-money.” Funny how
the fortunes of these bees suddenly changed after their attack on Wall
Street?
Maybe the sight of their idle, wealthy sisters
mingling in the high society of New York’s hotel scene, stirred up the swarms
of poor, homeless bees still roaming the mean streets of the
city. But, shortly after
the much publicized “Occupy Movement first appeared in the Big Apple, in 2011, New
York exploded in a wave of honeybee gang-related violence. .
WERE
RELAXED IMMIGRATION LAWS TO BLAME?
Some blame the mid-2010 change in the city’s
beekeeping laws. Laws prohibiting
beekeeping in the city were repealed. Some argue that, without hives and colonies,
there could be no swarms. But with
legalized beekeeping, honeybee colonies migrated to the city in record numbers.
The migrations were spontaneous and
unplanned. Without sufficient housing to
accommodate the immigrants, swarms of honeybees began to roam the city’s
streets When a swarm
descended on the Wall Street restaurant, “Cipriani Wall Street,” (either to
catch an expensive lunch or occupy the high-end restaurant in protest), the
insects were nabbed by the NYPD beekeeper’s low-pressure vacuum. The “swarm” was, quickly and quietly,
over.
DOES NEW YORK CITY REWARD HONEYBEES FOR SWARMING?
Suspicion grew that swarming gangs of bees
were being “paid off” to leave the city.
Then, the bees were relocated in, not just comfortable, but luxurious
accommodations. Critics charge that
these pay-offs reward bees for swarming.
This has caused swarming incidents to increase just like any other activity would increase in response to a predictable reward. Poor, homeless honeybees may see gang
swarming as the only way to change their standard of living.
THE QUIET AND, THEN, THE STORM
After the Wall Street “incident,” there was a
period of quiet. But, as
affluent bees began to appear in New York hotels, the street swarms exploded.
First, Little Italy was targeting by an angry
swarm of honeybees. Cleverly,
the bees blocked the entrance to the Italian-American Museum at the corner
of Mulberry and Grand Streets. No
one dared enter the museum as police were forced to close the
sidewalk. (Well, actually, the museum was closed at the time) The bees blocked the museum entrance
by pretending to attack a U.S. Mailbox on the sidewalk outside
Onlookers were terrified. Mike Costabile, who works nearby,
said, “It was pretty cool.” Finally, Little Italy’s bee violence Strike Force arrived in full riot gear. The team’s single member, Elie
Miodownik, of the New York City Beekeepers Association, was wearing a screened
hat and full beekeeper’s gear.
It took almost 3 hours from the swarm’s first
landing to capture all the bees. Stubbornly,
they refused to budge from the U.S. Mailbox. Maybe the bees intended a protest
against the Federal Government or were expressing dissatisfaction with their
postal service. The
reason for the bee’s sudden attack has never been revealed. Miodownik, however, speculated that
the swarm had been defeated in a gang war in a nearby hive and ejected from the
hive to wander the mean streets, homeless and angry.
Next, a Washington Heights fire escape was
attacked and occupied by an angry swarm of honey bees.
Then, a tree outside the high-end Bulgari store in
Midtown New York was the object another honeybee gang’s fury.
Finally, on Mott Street in Chinatown, police
closed down a section of the block as a gang of angry and unruly honeybees
attacked a streetlight between Bayard and Pell Streets. A terrified crowd fled the
scene. Well, actually, no one fled
the scene. Instead, more
people gathered to take pictures of the bees. But the crowd should have fled in fear.
This time NYPD beekeeper, Officer Tony
Planakis, was called to the scene. Assisted
by Andrew Cote, of the New York City Beekeepers Association, the Mott
Street swarm was finally brought under control. Cote speculated that this was part of
the same gang that had caused a disturbance on Hester Street earlier that same
day. But, then, Cote went
on to drop a hint about a planned move to Connecticut for these bees.
Connecticut?! If you keep rewarding bees with an
upscale lifestyle in Connecticut, they will just continue to swarm! But, no matter, maybe the bees have
something to swarm about. Cote
went on to say that with honeybees allowed in the city, urban beekeeping and
novice practitioners taking poor care of their hives were likely responsible
for the repeated swarms.
Translation: Urban honeybee slumlords were
providing overpriced, under-code, hives to these poor honeybee
immigrants. Force to live
in these squalid conditions, the angry bees may just be trying to attract
public attention to their plight!
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