Nobody likes a plane delay. And what’s worse, the explanation for why we’ve been all been sitting on the tarmac is never good enough.
This excuse, however, is one we’ve never heard before.
A plane traveling from Houston to Atlanta was delayed three hours after a swarm of hundreds of bees gathered on one of the wings of the plane!
My flight leaving Houston is delayed because bees have congregated on the tip of one of the wings. They won’t let us board until they remove the bees. But how on earth will this happen? Won’t they leave the wing when we take off? pic.twitter.com/DhodBz0m5n
— Anjali Enjeti (she/her) (@AnjaliEnjeti) May 3, 2023
Twitter user Anjali Enjeti documented the entire series of events, explaining that even though a beekeeper was called, the captain said the beekeeper was not allowed to touch the plane and pest control was not allowed to spray the bees off either.
It wasn’t until three hours later the airline said they were able to “safely shake the bees loose by using some ground equipment,” but Enjeti says all they had to do was turn on the plane, and all the bees immediately left!
Omg y’all. Entire the flight crew deplaned. Delta decided to give our gate to another flight. As soon as our plane’s engine turned on, THE BEES LEFT!!! All Delta had to do was TURN ON THE PLANE pic.twitter.com/gILlJ8EMZg
— Anjali Enjeti (she/her) (@AnjaliEnjeti) May 3, 2023
While bees swarming an aircraft like this is rare, it isn’t unheard of.
Beekeeper Mike Sexton told KHOU, “They usually start in the south and they move towards the north.
“Whenever bee swarms start, they’re going to gorge themselves with a bunch of honey and the old queen is going to take off with a bunch of workers so they're not going to eat again until they actually get to a new home, so in the meantime they rest and conserve their energy, so they land on anything.”
