Somewhere above I mentioned this story:

"We'll tell the story about Bill and the honey bees another time.;-)"

The fun thing was that when I told that story (the version I remembered) old Bob Ince piped up "And I was in that car with Bill!"

Well, the story goes that Bill had heard of an old beekeeper who was going out of business about an hour away from his farm on Westport Island, in the Town of Westbrook. So Bill and his one of his old Long Island neighbors, Bob Ince who had dropped in for a visit, decided to drive over and see if they could pick up a few hives at a bargain price. Well, they got a great deal on the hives and accessories, battened everything down in the back, and went on their merry way homeward.

Somewhere outside of Portland they began to notice a bee or two buzzing around the car and while Bob tried to shoo them away Bill stepped on the gas pedal. One of them got the brilliant idea of putting on the beekeepers helmets that they had also purchased, which made them feel safer. However, they soon were distracted by a siren coming up behind, and flashing lights from a police car, so they dutifully pulled over to the curb.

The policeman strolled up to the car and demanded that they roll down the window so he could get Bill's driver's license and registration. They tried to explain to the officer that there was a problem with that but eventually they rolled down the window and a stream of bees issued forth. They were somewhat gratified to hear the officer shout "Get the Hell out of here!" as he ran back to his patrol car. Bill and his friends eventually made it back to Westport and the bees lived there happily ever after.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble