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Buzzted: 3 MILLION Bees Taken From Queens Bee Hoarder
By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 23, 2012
Modified Aug 23, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 23, 2012
Modified Aug 23, 2012
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Beekeeping in New York City is undoubtedly popular these days now that it is finally legal, but this is just unbeelievable! Last night authorities swarmed the home of 58-year-old Yi Gin Chen in Corona, Queens because the Chinese immigrant had collected 45 hives with nearly 3 million live bees in his back yard.
"It’s gotten out of hand," Chen told the News in possibly the understatement of the week regarding his unregistered honey makers. "I don’t have the time or resources to do this." And now he won't be able to find the time, as official bee collectors yesterday wrapped the hives in netting and took them away to an "undisclosed location."
"They’re a health hazard," explained NYPD beekeeper Detective Tony Planakis. "I’ve never seen anything like this before." Put another way? "There were more bees in this driveway than there are people in Queens," Andrew Cote, of the New York City Beekeeper’s Association, said yesterday of the buzzing situation. "There was literally no way for the neighbors to get out of their homes without facing a swarm of bees."
So how did this all happen? One bee at a time, it seems. "I used to be a beekeeper in mainland China," the bees' owner explained as his little buzzers were carted away until nearly 1 a.m. "That’s all I want to do."
Still it seems Chen, who could face fines of $2,000 for each of his unregistered hives, apparently had the support of his family, if not his neighbors, in his endeavors. "This is ridiculous," his daughter told the News. "They [came] here without our permission and just took them away from us."
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