10,000 bees delay a flight in the U.S.

From: Jill K.

Sent: August 7, 2012

To: undisclosed recipients

Subject: Fw: 10,000 bees delay a flight in the U.S.

I stumbled across this article about a flight being delayed due to bees. Just thought it was interesting and something worth sharing with others. Take care, Jill
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The wonderful and wacky world of travel rears its head following a long weekend. And we have a couple of good ones.

The first is apparently not that goofy, although it sounds like it. Word out of Pennsylvania via USA Today is that a Delta Air Lines flight from Pittsburgh to New York LaGuardia “was delayed by about 40 minutes last week after a swarm of about 10,000 honey bees swarmed onto the wing of the aircraft.

The bees were discovered as ground crews were preparing to fuel the aircraft, which was operated by one of Delta’s regional affiliates. Airport officials then called master beekeeper Stephen Repasky to come handle the honey bees, which are a protected species and should not be killed, according to WTAE TV of Pittsburgh.
(I guess you could say the airport folks made a “bee line” for Repasky. I wouldn’t say that, but you could.)

“Normally these days, people just take a can of Raid to any stinging insect. In this case, the plane could have taken off and the colony probably would have been lost,” Repasky told the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review.

Isn’t it nice that they’re environmentally sensitive? Seriously, they could’ve just taken a giant hose to the colony, although I wouldn’t want to be the guy standing next to 10,000 angry bees. (And who did the counting, anyway?)

Scott Armstrong of the Greater Toronto Area Airports Authority told me the strangest delay he can think of at Pearson is dogs getting free from their cages. Read more at the Toronto Star.