Nearly 20,000 NYC Bees Relocated

An estimated 18,000 bees have been just "evicted" from their home on the Upper West Side of New York City, only to move into a swanky new hive on the roof of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, local media reports.

The bees were initially found swarming a massive hive on a tree branch about 20 feet above the ground at West 72nd Street and Broadway, the New York Post reported. Pedestrians made the discovery this past Memorial Day and notified police.

New York Police Department's own "bee cop," Anthony Planakis, was apparently the man for the job.

Planakis is reportedly no stranger to bee removal. Last week he removed a hive of a similar size from a Greenpoint bus stop, using a wide-hosed clear-chambered "bee vacuum." The chamber is often clear in these specially designed devices because making sure you snagged the queen is vital for bee relocation. Even if all the bees are not "vacuumed up" drones will still follow their queen to where ever she is moved.

This time, Planakis simply picked up portions of the hive at a time, literally scooping bees into cardboard boxes. According to FOX NY, the detective has been a bee keeper for nearly 40 years, and had no difficulty moving the four-pound beehive - a hive that Planakis estimates only took three to five minutes for the bees to build given the number of drones.

The bees were moved, hive material and all, to the rooftop of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, where they should be able to rebuild their home in peace.

For New Yorkers these unusual sights make it difficult to believe that bee populations have been on a consistent decline (lessening recent years) - the cause of which still remains unclear.