Bees trap customers in L.A. liquor store

Netscape News ^ | 11/29/2002 | No byline

[Skooz]

Bees trap customers in L.A. liquor store

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Marauding bees held shoppers hostage inside a Los Angeles liquor store for two hours on Thanksgiving while engaging firefighters in a tense standoff, officials said Friday.

The bees showed up suddenly at the front door of Sam's Mini Market in the northern Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth at about 11 a.m. Thursday as customers were making last-minute holiday purchases, said store owner Kawaljit Singh.

"A lot of them came in a second," Singh told Reuters. "One customer, he was trying to walk out and he said, 'Look at that!' There was a dark cloud."

The customer slammed the door shut and the siege began.

The bees, which had built a hive under the liquor store sign, trapped Singh, two customers and an employee inside the store for about two hours as firefighters repeatedly doused the insects with firefighting foam.

"All of them got dead but they were still coming from somewhere," Singh said, adding that as one swarm of bees was killed, another wave would appear..

"We would foam some of them and the bees would leave and then come back. It became a question of who can outlast the other?" fire department spokesman Bob Collis said.

The fire crew gave the bees one last soaking and urged customers to make a run for it at around 1 p.m. PST, then left Singh to battle the stragglers, Collis said.

"We assumed they were not the Africanized type because they were not aggressive -- they were just flying around," Collis said.

After mopping up gallons of foam and bees bodies, Singh attacked the hive one last time -- this time with a can of bug spray from his own shelves.

"That worked pretty good," he said. "I hope they don't come back. We don't want them."

© Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Reuters Ltd.

[joesnuffy]

The bees had taken over an entire insulated wall of our neigbor's garage. He sprayed more sugary water on them all, then proceded to cut out the hive an moved it along with all the honey to his truck. He said in the end, there were more than 50,000 bees in the hive. He was going to sell all the bees to farmers for polination of their crops. The guy got paid three times. Paid to remove the bees, paid to sell the honey, and paid by the farmers for use in their farming.

Big smile for Enterprising Beekeepers

[spodefly]

[Texaggie79]

Least they had something to do while they waited. Hopefully the owners paid the customer's tab.

[jellybean]

Getting buzzed at a liquor store - what a concept!

Hahahahaha

[Tennessee_Bob]

My understanding is that they haven't released the video from inside the place. I managed to find a frame grab from the security cameras in the store - I hope it shows properly.

[VMI70]

To kill the bees or not kill the bees, that is the question;
I get hives just thinking about this;

This was really series, I think I'll go take a shower. and afterwards,
I'll comb my hair.

[yankeedame]

LOL! Sound like a Simpson's episode, but instead of a liquor store it could be Moe's Tavern or the Quiky-Mart.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Ahh.... I've been to that place... they have Liquor in the front, poker in the rear...

[Entropy Squared]

I can just imagine me trying to use that story to explain to my wife why I'm two hours late coming back from the liquor store, "Really, dear, bees! They were everywhere. I was trapped in a liquor store..."

[EggsAckley]

I keep thinking of that Mexican bee on television, the Simpsons, maybe?

When I saw LA and swarm, I immediately thought it was a new invasion of illegals.

[Rocksalt]

Isn't smoke the thing which immobilizes honey bees? The guy should have burned some grocery bags or something.I guess the firemen would have had a fit at this.

[Chad Fairbanks]

All it ever actually seemed to do was drive them out... just long enough for us to change hives...

[Rocksalt]

Probobly wouldn't have worked in this scenario then I'm guessing.
What state were these bees likely in? My understanding is when bees are swarming outside in big clouds they are moving around and are not in an aggressive stage.Is this true?

[Chad Fairbanks]

when bees are swarming, I always go the other way... ;0)

[Rocksalt]

That's the premise I operate under too.I don't take no chances,I get an allergic reaction to honeybees.

[AnnaZ]

For some reason, it never occured to me that people go to liquor stores on Thanksgiving morning.
Nothing wrong with that, I suppose.
It just doesn't seem much like a traditional Thanksgiving activity.

Many stores are closed on Thanksgiving, but most small liquor stores are open. Most liquor stores here in LA, besides selling bottles of wine which can be viewed as a traditional Thanksgiving purchase, also sell milk and other basic items.

[Cobra64]

Did anyone call the "bbes For Peace" PETA folks. If not, (in the voice of Foghorn Leghorn) I'm outraged. I'm outraged I tell ya.

[Cvengr]

They weren't Killer Bees, just peaceful Islamic Bees.

Colin Powell may have even invited them over.

[Cobra64]

Perhaps bees like certain kinds of head-dressing as nesting material? Also, perhaps a shower, haircut, some Arrid X-tra Dry, and a shave would have eliminated this scenario. Of course a little DEET as aftershave would work in preventing other sorts of complications.