I got my second swarm call of spring today.

This is not interesting in the least, until one 
recalls that I now live full-time in Manhattan.

It seems that this has been a good spring for
bees, as there have been zero swarms in NYC in
recent memory.

Today's swarm was a decent sized swarm of 3 to 4 lbs 
of bees in a tree at a park at 68th St and Riverside Dr, 
right on the Hudson River.  Bee-Vac used, no excitement,
and joy of joys, Parks and Recreation even had a Purchase
Order for me.

The first was a much smaller swarm, but got much more
attention as it settled down on a corner of a major street.  
More words were written than bees collected, resulting in 
my annual 15 seconds of "fame":

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6129080 
http://www.wnbc.com/news/16195065/detail.html
http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=6491303 
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05082008/news/regionalnews/upper_east_hive_1
09895.htm 
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/05/08/2008-05-08_mysterious_swa
rm_of_bees_on_upper_east_s.html

It even made the wire services:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/2008/05/08/bees_swarm_new_york_stree
t_corner/7134/print_view/

Clearly, it was a slow news day.  

One lousy swarm of bees issuing from places unknown, and from 
the reaction, it might have as well been an unexploded nuclear warhead!
:)

I was called by NYPD Office of Emergency Management, who 
got my name from the Bronx Zoo, where I keep a few hives.

By the time I got down to the site, there were:

a) 14 NYPD Officers
b) 1 "Emergency Management" Truck
c) 1 Fire Truck
d) Half a dozen firemen
e) Crime scene tape around the entire area
f) Not just one but three news film crews 
g) A newspaper photographer
h) Several reporters from print and radio
i) A crowd of civilians hungry for diversion
j) A dinky little swarm - maybe a pound of bees total
k) Crowd-control metal barriers that arrived to cordon off the entire 
   sidewalk until the stragglers drifted off back to the hive from 
   which the swarm issued.

While all beekeepers can expect audiences for the obscure brand 
of magic we perform with a spray bottle of water, a whisk-broom 
brush, and a cardboard box, this was the first time I've ever 
had a swarm call that included a press conference! :)

The photographers wanted me to put on a "bee suit", and I explained 
that I did not even own one. They begged with me to not make it look 
so easy/trivial/boring, so I out on a veil for a bit, and lit a smoker.
(Dance, monkey boy, Dance!)  When you give them the visuals they want,
you can be a little demanding that they not hype "danger" or "threat".

I gave both swarms to Roger Repohl who keeps bees for community gardens
up in the Bronx, who had asked about a split from one of my hives.  
Perhaps he can feed them into a decent size before fall.

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