The husband of my midwife friend works for pest control. His
work mate keeps bees as a hobby, and gets a regular supply as they are not
allowed to kill bees, so when ever they are called to a honey bee infestation
he collects them up and takes them to his apiary.
Last week the two of them got a call out to a large
warehouse with a bee problem, so they donned their bee suits and went over.
When I say bee suits, they weren’t in black and yellow stripes gear by the way;
just the white all-in-ones and hats, thought it would have been funnier if they
went in costume.
However, leaving that aside, they collected a huge swam and
the beekeeper filled up his bee box almost to bursting with sleepy bees. He
drove off in his car, with my friend’s husband following behind in his. Both
men were still wearing their white bee suits, but both removed their bee hats
and slung them casually on their passenger seats.
As they got up to speed on the motorway, the beekeeper’s car
hit a minor bump, jolting the bee box in the back. The lid of the bee box,
improperly fastened in haste, flew open and gradually more and more bees began
seeping from the box. The bee-keeper, now travelling at 60 mph, was suddenly
aware that he had passengers in the back, and saw at once his only option was
to quickly put on his bee keeper hat and mask.
My friend’s husband glanced over and saw the beekeeper now
travelling at 60 mph, wearing a full facemask, with a huge swarm of bees loose
in his car. They moved off the motorway in convoy, my friend’s husband watching
with delight as all the other motorists and, when the beekeeper pulled up
opposite a bus stop, a huge crowd of people realized that there was a man
taking his swarm for a nice drive in the country.
We were speculating as to what would happen if he had been
pulled over by the police - can
you be done for threatening and officer of the law with some bees?
‘Can you wind down the window please sir?’
‘Really … you’re sure about that?’
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