BEES IN THE STUDIO

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 136, 10 June 1937, Page 28

BEES IN THE STUDIO

QUEER OCCURRENCE IN

BOSTON

An old adage spoken long.before the age of radio explained that "a swarm of bees in May is. worth, a load of nay; a swarm of bees, in June is worth a silver spoon; a swarm of bees in July isn't worth a fly." Nothing was said about a swarm in April. But from Massachusetts there comes a report of an April "swarm." . To begin the story it should be explained that the radio control men who sit behind thick glass windows in small compartments alongside the studios find the glass separation has numerous advantages; they eavesdrop on the programme from loud-speakers as the audience hears it, and they can talk, sneeze, or cough without disturbing the actors As these operators hear the show they have the added advantage of seeing it as they manipulate the little knobs that regulate the volume and tonal quality.

At WEEI, Boston, the control men have found another reason to be appreciative, of the glass1 partition. John Van de Poele, apiarist of the State Department of Agriculture, with r.uperb confidence in the performance of some 50,000 bees brought- them *o the studio for . realism during, an. evening .inter 1, view. . One of the two hives spilled and then the wild cjarriour, began. The buzzing programme was brought to an end when ...the beekeeper armed with a. smoke gun rushed back into'the infested studio "to call his bees by name" and get them back into.the hive while the radio men behind the glass window watched the, one-man show.' ■ '

The bees, apparently . sensed ;they (were at the right microphone for oddly, enough the' broadcast was staged in studio "B." . The "show" was exactly according to the script until 7dr. Van de Poele stumbled on the.ramp. The precautionary and —possibly intuitive announcer had taken no chances. He had donned a regular "bee hat" ' of. netting, long glo.ves, and bicycle clamps on his trouser cuffs. . But when the swarm broke loose.he ran to the control room. . Mr. Van de Poele, whom it was said boasted he was immune from bee.stings, sought to conquer the' bees bare-handed.

Throughout the night he was at the studios enticing bees off the chandeliers and the draperies, while thousands of other bees rushed to hive-like protection in the grand piano. A control man described the studio sound "like the drone cf 4000 aeroplanes." For hours Mr. Van de Poele battled with the bees and'th° Boston radio men said the studio looked like a. battleground at dawn; 10,000 be.es lost their lives in the skirmish. Mr. Van de Poele was badly stung and swollen, but it was said he emerged from the studio with fewer "bites" ..than an ordinary man would have. had.

When the scrub-women came to work in the morning they found' a warning sign on the'door, "Bees loose! Don'tenter." ' ■..■"'' ■ ;