Beekeeper Slowly Becoming Bee Hoarder

TULSA, OK—Neighbors of 68-year-old Eugenia Holmes said Monday that they fear that the veteran beekeeper has slowly transformed her once-disciplined passion for apiculture into out-and-out bee hoarding. "Every square inch of Holmes' place is stacked floor-to-ceiling with hives, smokers, netting, honeycombs, and swarm upon swarm of bees," said neighbor Dick Uckelman, who alerted Tulsa police after noticing a 12-foot wide, three-inch deep honey slick oozing into the street from under the foundation of Holmes' house. "I'm worried she may become one of those 'crazy bee ladies' you hear about." While bee hoarding is not illegal in and of itself, complaints of buzzing, stings, and rampant cross-pollination in Holmes' neighborhood are up nearly 200 percent from last year.