Bee Swarm Descends on NYC Store

Thousands of bees swarmed a GameStop store in New York City and trapped employees inside for several hours on Saturday. 

No help arrived until a local ABC Eyewitness News team called the police department, which first referred them to the fire department, 9-1-1, 3-1-1, and even the mayor's office. One intrepid passerby lured many of the bees into a bag, before an NYPD bee specialist finally arrived and used the queen bee's scent to trap the rest of the insects. 

There's no word on why the bees targeted the GameStop, although they originated from a nearby hive on one wall of the building that houses several merchants. But the lack of reported injuries suggests a more docile breed of bees, unlike the Africanized "killer" honey bees that are known to attack people and animals in the Southwestern United States. 

Honey bees remain critical for agriculture and food production because of their pollinator role – more bee species exist than bird and mammal species combined. Bees also hold huge fascination for researchers because of their democratic social lives, counting ability and even their mid-life switch to different jobs. 

However, non-experts would do well to follow the instinctive reaction of animals such as elephants and stay away from bee swarms. 

The USDA has some basic information on the highly unlikely event of a bee swarm attack.