Hello, I heard a bee story yesterday which I would like to add to the "Bee Fables" thread recently on this list: It seems that a beekeeper in a rural southwestern Virginia county also made a little moonshine whisky, which he transported inside empty beehives on a flatbed truck. The authorities eventually figured out this strategem, and made plans to arrest him. It is hard to keep secrets in small rural communities, and our beekeeper got wind of the plan. He loaded his meanest hives onto his truck and started down the road, soon to be stopped by the sheriff and alcohol agents, who asked him what he was hauling. He replied: "Beehives -- you can see that." "What's in the beehives?" "Bees, what else?" "We think you're hauling moonshine in those beehives. Open up a couple for us to check." "No sir. If you want to see inside you open them." The sheriff jumped onto the truck, triumphantly jerked the lid off a beehive, and was nearly eaten alive by the bees. After that our friend ran moonshine whenever and wherever he wanted and no one ever bothered him again. Fred Virginia, USA