Bees hitching a ride...

Swarm of 10,000 bees delays Delta flight from Pittsburgh

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

A Delta Air Lines flight from Pittsburgh to New York LaGuardia was delayed by about 40 minutes last week after an estimated 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.

"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 adds to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The Tribune-Review says an airport effort to educate workers about what to do if they encounter swarms appears to have paid off.

"The airport gets big kudos from me," Repasky adds to the Tribune-Review. "They have taken great steps to make sure that whenever someone sees a swarm of honey bees on airport property, they contact the local beekeeper — me."

As for Delta, spokesman Anthony Black acknowledged that the delay was an unusual one.

"It's certainly not something that's common — bees or anything else infesting a portion of an aircraft," he says to the newspaper.

KDKA TV of Pittsburgh, which broke the story, writes "swarms of bees are actually nothing new at the airport. Last May, 25,000 to 30,000 landed on the Taxiway-C light." Repasky tells the station Wednesday's incident was the fourth time this year that he's been called to handle a swarm at the airport.

The Associated Press provides background, writing that "swarms form when colonies become too large and the queen leaves half of her bees behind to find a new home. Some swarms can contain 25,000 to 30,000 bees."