May 25, 2013
Saturday, July 14, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- A church in Augusta called in a master beekeeper to help relocate some buzzing intruders.
The Augusta Chronicle reports that church members had discovered a honeybee colony in the historic parish house at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Augusta.
Master beekeeper Bill Owens and an assistant removed the building's siding around the colony and carefully collected the bees with a portable shop vacuum. Owens says the vacuum is fitted with a wire basket inside instead of a dust bag so the bees can be relocated.
Owens took the bees back to his base in Monroe and put them in a hive.
Honeybees play a critical role in plant pollination and are essential to many forms of agriculture. The honeybee was designated in 1975 as Georgia's official state insect.
(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)
