NEW YORK ¨C It was a case of hold the honey, double the mustard in Times Square at lunchtime on Tuesday.
Police shut part of 43rd Street near Seventh Avenue after a thick swarm of bees gathered atop a blue and yellow umbrella over a hotdog cart in an area of Manhattan already buzzing with swarms of pedestrians, tourists and traffic.
A police officer who keeps bees himself, arrived at the scene in Times Square, known as ¡°The Crossroads of the World,¡± at 2:30 p.m. (EST), wearing a mesh-hooded beekeeper suit. He deployed a vacuum cleaner-like device to collect the bees unharmed, said New York Police Detective Sophia Mason.
The scene drew crowds of tourists taking photographs.
¡°It took about 45 minutes to suck them up,¡± Mason said. ¡°They are at an undisclosed location. They will rehive them.¡±
No one was injured in the incident, Mason said.
¡°The bees just wanted some hot dogs,¡± she added.
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