Beekeepers to the rescue — Scotty McLean and Kirk Right of McLean Builders load up a bee box full of honeybees from the Century Center. Photo by Kirk Ross.

Pardon the pun, but it didn’t take too long last Tuesday for the buzz downtown to get around.

Late Tuesday morning, calls and emails poured into The Citizen offices about a large number of bees swarming next to the Century Center, specifically in the Foster Holly (Ilex x attenuata) on the northeast corner of Main and Greensboro streets.

As thousands of honeybees swirled in and out of the bushes, onlookers did a bit of swarming as well.

“It was a pretty amazing sight,” said Brendan Moore, facilities administrator for the Century Center. He took in the spectacle and the rapid response of the local beekeeping community, but, he said, “I did it from afar.” More »