Illustration by Mason Sutton.

Students looking out of the window at Olin Library to see the buzz on campus were in for a sight on Wednesday afternoon: a swarm of a thousand bees, yellow tape, and multiple police cars. 

The cause of the sticky situation? A few jars of spilled honey. 

WashU Hillel Rabbi Jordan Gerson said that it was a new experience for him, as he watched a beekeeper move insects off the table where Hillel had put out apples and honey as part of a Rosh Hashanah snack spread. 

“I just celebrated my 10-year anniversary of being employed at WashU Hillel, and this is a first for me,” Gerson said.

After some of the honey that Hillel brought in from a local apiary spilled, it only took minutes for a large swarm of bees to coalesce around the scene. 

“You know, news travels fast in the bee world, I guess, and they alerted their friends and took advantage of the honey,” Gerson said.

Coincidentally, multiple WashU Police Department officers were in the area for an event with comfort dogs Bear and Brookie when the situation unfolded, according to Chief of Police Angela Coonce.

“WUPD officers were able to place a container over the honey to protect and contain the bees. Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) was contacted and fortunately they have an employee who is a beekeeper,” Coonce wrote in an email.  

She added that the bees— which she said numbered 1,000— were safely contained and transported off campus with minimal damage to bystanders. 

“One officer suffered a few bee stings while assisting EH&S but no students were stung that we are aware of at this time,” she wrote. 

First-year Arieh Robinson was walking past Olin when he saw multiple police cars and yellow caution tape sectioning off the area around the George Washington statue. 

“I was just walking by and, I don’t know, some honey got loose, and the bees seemed to like the honey,” Robinson said. 

Although the yellow tape stopped students from walking through the area the swarm was centered around, some students walking past had to swerve to avoid errant bees. 

Despite the potential danger of the situation, Robinson focused on the positives of seeing so many bees on campus. 

“People talk about the dying bee population, so when I see all these bees, it makes me think, hopefully all of our flowers will be well-fertilized,” he said. 

Jacob Fisher contributed reporting.