Manila, Philippines - Equipped with vacuum cleaners, maintenance personnel of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) yesterday cleared eight boarding gates of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 after a swarm of bees descended on them last Thursday.
Five PAL flights were delayed because of the incident, as the bees entered the passenger tubes, preventing the airport operator from connecting the tube to arriving planes.
Initial investigation showed that a passenger had brought the concealed honeybees into the plane.
But Dr. Simeon Amurao, quarantine doctor at the NAIA, said “the bees, like every creature, are searching for a cooler place to stay, especially during the summer season.”
University of the Philippines professor Dr. Cleopas Cervancia, an expert on bees, echoed the statement of Amurao.
In a telephone interview with The STAR, Cervancia said that the swarm of bees coming from nearby cities normally make a “stopover” at a cooler place such as the airport.
Cervancia added that the bees do not stay long in the cooler place, and only hang around for three days, then will look again for another place to reside.
“We are even lucky because it is an indication that the place (NAIA) is clean and not yet polluted that’s why the bees are there,” Cervancia said.
PAL vice president for corporate affairs Joey de Guzman said that the flights affected by the incident last Thursday included PR 176 from Tagbilaran, PR 392 from Tacloban, PR 227 from Laoag and PR 184 from Cagayan de Oro.
Several buses were fielded to ferry the passengers from the tarmac to the terminal.