TAMPA, Fla. -- A hive of hundreds of honey bees colonized one of the goal posts at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa early in Sunday's Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Green Bay Packers game.
The bees gathered underneath the goal post in the north end zone, which was shown on the Fox television broadcast. The hive has not impacted play, as the Packers scored in that end zone on their opening drive. It is unclear whether players are even aware of the bees, who have mysteriously chosen the goal post as a new home on gameday.
Florida is home to more than 300 species of bees, including 29 that are found nowhere else in the world.
Stadium personnel have been attempting to catch the queen and a source told ESPN that once the queen is captured, the rest are expected to leave. Making things more challenging is that the species of bees inhabiting the field goal cannot be sprayed.
It's not the first time insects and other animals have invaded a sporting event. The New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians had to contend with a swarm of midges during Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS that was so thick that players from both teams were swatting away the pests constantly. The Tampa Bay Rays and University of Florida both had bat problems in the mid-2000s.