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Beekeeping Ga. deputies save swarm settling on SUV

It's good to have a hobby - especially when it helps deal with a very specialized issue.

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. -- Two Georgia deputies showed off their beekeeping prowess this week when a resident came out to an unwelcome surprise on an SUV.

According to information provided by the Coweta County Sheriff's Office, deputies Adam Montgomery and Kevin Keeble were both called out to Thomas Crossroads where they found bees swarming a Nissan SUV.

Both being beekeepers themselves, the deputies worked together to get the helpful creatures to a place where they would be a bit more helpful.

RELATED | Coweta K-9 cops pivot to remove bee swarm on SUV

Montgomery tended to the swarm of honeybees, removing the mostly-docile bees to a temporary hive. His partner Deputy Kevin Keeble, another K-9 handler, snapped photographs and assisted, reluctantly.

"When he got the call, he asked me if I wanted to help him. And at first, I was like, absolutely not," Keeble recalled. "Next thing I know I’m standing over the hive with him getting these bees."

Montgomery says the bees could have tried to build a colony in the SUV.

"I’ve seen bees set up a colony in old tractors and farm equipment. If something is sitting and it doesn’t move, they’ll set up a colony."

Montgomery says he got the bees into a hive box and put the new temporary hive in his partner’s backyard.

"I went from waking up yesterday morning having no interest in bees to waking up this morning and now I have a beehive behind my house," Keeble said. "I caught the bug, I guess."

According to Savannah Bee Company, which specializes in the insects and products made from both honey and wax, bees will sometimes stop to rest when looking for a new hive home. The company also reports that the bees are most docile during these insect layovers.

As for anyone who sees a swarm of bees that aren't hurting anyone, Coweta County residents are asked to call the sheriff's office at 770-253-1502.

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