Cable company relocates 50,000 bees

IRVINE, Calif., July 2 (UPI) -- A Cox Communications employee said the cable company has removed a colony of about 50,000 bees from the back yard of an Irvine, Calif., home.

Jack Robinson, a loss prevention supervisor for Cox, said a team of beekeepers transported the colony Tuesday from an outdoor cable box in Virginia Heileg's back yard to a bee farm near Brea, Calif., The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported Wednesday.

Robinson said the beekeepers removed the top of the cable box, cut through the honeycomb and used a vacuum system to suck out all of the bees. The remaining honey was melted from the box using a torch and the beekeepers finished the job by spraying the equipment with a bee-deterring chemical.

Robinson said he has overseen the removal of more than a dozen bee hives.

"The best part of this job?" Robinson said. "I get to eat free honey all day."