By JENNIFER FERMINO
May 19, 2008
The second massive swarm of thousands of bees has been spotted in the city in just over a week and experts say it's a sign the Big Apple could be overrun by drones this summer.
"We are seeing more colonies surviving in the wild and surviving well enough that they swarm," said James Fischer, a volunteer beekeeper with the Bronx Zoo. "Things are getting better for bees."
But perhaps not for humans.
Fischer has responded to two swarms this spring in Manhattan - two more than he's ever seen.
Thousands of bees stopped traffic when they thronged to a newspaper box on East 75th Street and Second Avenue on May 7.
The second swarm - which was even larger, with about 15,000 buzzers - occurred Thursday at a tree near Riverside Drive and West 68th Street.
The black cloud of bees looks ominous, but they are "harmless" at this time because they're so focused on finding a home, Fischer said.
The whole buzz boom might be due to the mild winter months.
"It could be that the warmer winter made it easier [for them to reproduce]," Fischer said.
Chester Crowl Jr., a Staten Island beekeeper, said he has responded to about 12 calls of swarms in that borough - compared to last year's five.
"It's the busiest I've ever seen it," he said.
