Bee Swarm Shuts Ark. Hospital's ER

Creation Groans ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE/ASSOCIATED PRESS - May 1, 2007 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A swarm of bees clustered outside the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center shut down the emergency room Monday, as officials waited for a beekeeper to come vacuum up the 7,000 insects. Although no one was stung, the Little Rock emergency room still decided to be closed for ambulance traffic. "We'll take walk-ins, but ambulances are being diverted to other hospitals," UAMS spokeswoman Andrea Peel said. Doctors did not see any patients with bee stings, but emergency room physician Dr. Delaney Kinchen said it was an important precaution to close the ER while clearing out the bees. "I've been stung thousands of times and never had any problems, but I know people who've been stung twice and almost died," he said. Beekeeper Harvey Johnston arrived Monday afternoon to remove the beehive. "Somewhere around here was a beehive that got overcrowded," he said. "When bees get crowded, (the queen) leaves and takes a portion of the bees with her." The emergency room reopened shortly after 2 p.m., Peel said. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8ORQTLG0&show_article=1 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.