Note: the Dayton Hamvention is a giant convention/flea market for ham
radio enthusiasts.
 
Swarm greets flea marketers: The Dayton Hamvention flea market almost
became a "bee
     market" late Sunday morning when a swarm of several thousand
honeybees, apparently from
     a nearby hive, descended onto a vendor's table. Dave Lindquist,
N1YMK, a former apiarist who
     lives in Newfane, Vermont, happened upon the scene just as another
man -- obviously
     knowledgeable about bees and possibly a ham -- already had isolated
the queen bee in a
     cardboard box and was scooping the swarm off the table's edge into
the box. "There were lots
     of bees still in the air -- more than half -- but they had detected
the smell of the queen in the
     box, so were happily joining her," he said. Lindquist said he'd
been told the fire department
     already had been called to "blow the swarm out of the air" by
freezing it with carbon dioxide,
     but that didn't appear necessary, and no one reported getting
stung. Onlooking hams
     appeared unfazed, said Lindquist. "While swarming bees are normally
docile due to the fact
     that they fill themselves up with honey reserves before they leave
the hive, they still have the
     ability to sting if agitated." Lindquist's friend, Charlie Geib,
N4AV, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida
     didn't take any chances. "Dave was a few feet from the scene, but I
backed off about 40 feet
     away and still got hit by flying bees," he said.
 
A nice note about bees, I thought. It was on the ham radio national
organization's web site. Many of us enjoy both hobbies.
John LeRoy (ham radio W4JKL)