Tim Schuler, the beekeeper for the state Department of Agriculture, was at a beekeepers' picnic when he got the call to come and deal with the swarm in Cherry Hill, Fox29 in Philadelphia reported.

Schuler said the hive appeared to be a nucleus hive, one used to transport bees to be used to start a new colony.

Joseph Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said no one had reported a lost beehive by late Saturday. He said items lost on the turnpike that have gone unclaimed in the past have included boats and a horse.

Schuler said he planned to drop the hive off at the house of a beekeeping friend. He said the two of them would wait to see if the queen bee survived. If she did not, they might combine the swarm with another hive.