When you live in New York, it's always something. And this story brings the phrase, "Only in New York" to mind.
The subways always on the blink, everything costs a million dollars, and to top it all off you have to navigate hordes of angry, bloodthirsty bees just to get a hot dog.
At least, this week you did.
Recently, in Times Square, the hot dogs served by one of the city's iconic stands came with more than just ketchup and mustard.
The stand was taken over by a colony of swarming bees -- some 25,000 of them. According to the NYPD's bee keepers (yes, the greatest city in the world actually has on-staff bee keepers!), "Much like New Yorkers, in the summer the bees feel that the hive is just too....crowded. So they take off for a little relocation."
In this case, to the hot dog stand umbrella at 43rd and Broadway.
Of course, we all know how precious bees are nowadays, so you'll be happy to know that they all survived. How? The NYPD bee keepers simply sucked them up with a vacuum, then relocated them far away from any hot dog stands to go about their buzzy business.
What caused this un-bee-lievable phenomenon?
"The hive got overcrowded because it was hot and humid and they just needed a new place to go so they can keep cool," said Officer Darren Mays, one of the NYPD beekeepers. This phenomenon is called an "absconded hive." The 25,000 bees decided to "take temporary residence while scout bees are out finding a new permanent residence."
Of course on Twitter, New Yorkers were abuzz about Times Square's newest residents:
While some seemed to welcome their new bee overlords:
Weirder still, apparently these bee invasions happen every year!
Some, of course, raised some valid questions:
While others had more pressing concerns:
And of course, even when the bees expanded their territory, some couldn't help but see this spectacle as just another reason their city is so unique:
Truly bee-witching, bee-guiling and bee-wildering, just like the Bee-ig Apple itself! (I'm truly sorry, I'll stop now.)
@chandlerparry/Threads
