White House hit by swarm of bees

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CNN

(CNN) – The Secret Service is always on the alert for aerial assaults — but on Thursday, White House grounds were hit by one unexpected airborne threat.

A swarm of honey bees took over a bush located between the Northwest security gate of the White House and the area where television networks stand-up positions are located early Thursday.

CNN photojournalist John Bodnar said he came through the Northwest gate around 12:30 pm and was warned about the bees by Secret Service on duty in the guard post. "I walked out and thought it was a swirl of blossoms blowing in the wind, but turns out it was a swarm of bees," he says. Half an hour later, they were still issuing warnings."

White House carpenter Charlie Brandts, who is also a beekeeper and will be managing two bee hives in Michelle Obama's garden, came over to the area around shortly before 2 pm wearing protective gear and carrying a cardboard box. Brandts was reportedly able to get the queen bee in the cardboard box and many, though not all, of the other bees followed. CNN has not yet been able to confirm the capture of the winged invaders.



Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

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Beekeeper Charlie Brandts was dispatched Thursday to deal with a swarm of bees on the White House grounds.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Are they Mexican killer bees?

Those can be so nasty!

[RamboLiberal]

2. Sometimes I post this stuff to be the straight man

To you clever DU'ers. :rofl:

[rrneck]

11. They must have gone to

DC to get a big load of high powered stingers at a gun show.

[Lasher]

3. Good on Brandts!

Maybe Charlie will be managing three hives now! Sure wish I had that problem.

:thumbsup:

[MADem]

4. Well, no colony collapse there, then. Bright spot! nt

[jkshaw]

5. Twice we've had swarms appear and take up residence

in our attic here in northern Utah. Once on the morning of an afternoon wedding for which 200 guests were to appear -- inside of six hours. Pandemonium.

[Bette Noir]

6. Is it wrong for me to find this hilarious?

[whathehell]

7. Too bad it's not Locusts...the fundies would make something of that

[BlancheSplanchnik]

8. Honey bees! That's kind of neat!

kind of a good omen, to my mind, especially when I think of how honey bees have been in ecological trouble.

[Moonwalk]

13. It's an excellent omen! Given the situation with honey bees of late--

Where we've seen them vanishing, I take this swarm to be a wonderful omen! The beekeeper got the queen and, for all intents and purposes, created a hive then and there. Those bees can now be put to work at the nearest farms pollinating fruit trees. I mean how cool is that? Bees came to the President, giving the White House fresh honey, and he can send them out to help U.S. farmers. In fact he'll probably do so without charging the usual fee that beekeepers often charge for such things.

Karma, man. You give out, and the universe gives back :hippie:

[Delphinus]

21. I love your take on this!

Thanks for brightening my day. :hi: (and a belated welcome to DU)

[BlancheSplanchnik]

22. *smiling*...I like the way you put that

Honey bees came to the President, and Michele will be caring for them. Yes, VERY cool, very mystical!

and welcome from me too.

:hi:

[gardenista]

40. That's right!

The honey bees are a very good sign. I hope Charlie uses them in one of the domestic hives on the grounds.

[KansDem]

9. Attack of the Bee-publicans!!!

They want our President to fail!

[tomm2thumbs]

10. as long as they weren't terrorist bees, trained to attack on command

or even more dangerous like the infamous 'bat bombs'
http://www.mystrangenewmexico.com/the-columns/2008/4/4/bat-bombs.html

[Tab]

16. No, they were Wannas

Not as dangerous.

[corpseratemedia]

31. ROFLl!!

:rofl:

[Richard D]

12. You gotta know . . .

. . if this had happened a few months or so earlier, it would've been an exterminator instead of a bee keeper. Kudos for saving the swarm.

[Best_man23]

15. There would have been a Delay

[Lost-in-FL]

14. Biological weapons in the White House? Are u series!!11!!1 nt

[superconnected]

17. Ah they must smell something sweet, probably our president.

[kirby]

18. Remote controlled spy bees...

What a perfect movie plot...

[Captain Hilts]

19. Remember when Brood X of cicadas attacked GWB at a press conference? nt

[AwakeAtLast]

20. To Freepers this is the first sign of the Apocalypse.

;)

[Mz Pip]

26. We may laugh at that

but I wouldn't be at all surprised if some idiot fundie wacko believes it without question.

For what it's worth. we had a swarm decide to dump dowm on one of ouw bushes a few years ago. (Maybe I pissed God off) But the bee people came and took them away and we lived happily ever after.

Mz Pip

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. We found da bees!

[Stinky The Clown]

24. Sounds like DU when someone disagrees with what Obama had for breakfast and says so

[Canuckistanian]

25. Thanks for this. Please keep us informed as to developments

Remember, we're all depending on you. You're our eyes and ears on this issue.

We must remain vigilant.

[lovuian]

27. the bees are saying

we are ticked

[Olney Blue]

28. they heard about the new garden!

[Muttocracy]

30. exactly - they're volunteering before the official bees are brought in:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack and First Lady Michelle Obama Highlight Healthy Eating
By Sandy Miller Hays
April 9, 2009

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2009—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined First Lady Michelle Obama and a group of 5th graders on the South Lawn of the White House today to talk about healthy eating, the availability of locally grown fruits and vegetables, and bees.

"Growing your own fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to have healthy food," Vilsack said. "Working in a garden is a great way to stay physically active and maintain a healthy body. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping schools make sure that every student in America has a healthy and nutritious lunch to eat at school."

This July, USDA will be providing two types of parasite-resistant honey bees developed by USDA scientists to pollinate the plants in the new White House garden this summer. Both of these bees are rapidly gaining in popularity with bee keepers.
...

[aquart]

29. Excellent! Did they pollinate?

[No Elephants]

37. Do I have to wash your mouth out with soap again?

[Javaman]

32. when bees swarm, they are at their least dangerous.

they are laden with honey. The equivalent would be fat bloated patrons existing an all you can eat BBQ restaurant. They look big and mean, but the worst they could do to you, is threaten to puke on you if you made them run.

[Blue_Tires]

33. kill them all

i hate the bees and wasps...

[hatrack]

34. My condolences - and I hope you don't like eating fruits, nuts and vegetables . . .

:wtf:

[Blue_Tires]

35. lol...

just a lifelong phobia of mine

[underpants]

36. We have a beekeeper???

Multitasking!!!

[gardenista]

39. Go Charlie!!!

That is so cool. Carpenter by day. Bee wrangler by night...

[gardenista]

38. Beekeepers RUUUUUULLLLEEEE!!!

Charlie, you are so freaking cool!