So much so, actually, that I accidentally wrote that headline as “beeing.” And so much so that the situation required the intervention of the NYPD’s “bee guru,” Detective Anthony “Tony Bees” Planakis. But probably not so much so that anyone needs to do any serious worrying?
Here’s what actually happened: yesterday afternoon in the parking lot of an East New York supermarket, 17,500 bees descended on a single tree, reportedly at the behest of their queen (“It looked like a wig,” noted one witness). Tony “Bees,” along with Queens-based beekeeper Tom Wilk, cut down the hive with garden shears, and the bees were peacefully relocated to Queens.
Apparently, this type of thing is not just a regular occurrence—Wilk reports handling a recent, similar swarm of 10,000 bees in Cobble Hill, and Gothamist has this video of a pretty serious swarm in Boerum Hill last year—but also, like the cicada onslaught, isn’t a particularly huge safety hazard. “They are docile when they swarm,” Wilk explained. “It’s not weird for this to happen in Brooklyn.” So, moving on I guess. Just a quick reminder that even with more on-trend insects taking up the news cycle, there’s always some other terrifying swarm you could be worrying about.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.