Florida report: Bees in Miami and Blow on the beach

By Stone Martindale Dec 13, 2006, 2:02 GMT

Florida is the strangest of states within the United States of America, and not just because people disappear while walking the dog by the intercoastal waterway (alligators), have difficulty with hanging chads and voting machines, or deal with a sizeable elderly population behind the wheel of very big cars. 

Lately it's been a mix of plagues.   The Miami Herald reports that a Miami couple was sharing their home with literally millions of bees. Jesus Molina said he and his girlfriend had it after numerous bites and buzzing bees bothered them in their apartment.  A swarm of bees invaded the kitchen wall of their Miami Beach apartment.

Molina stated the bees arrived at least two and a half years ago. The couple finally called professionals in.

"So we're trying to, like, get rid of most of them, but without professional help we can't. So now we almost … They're biting me!'" Molina screamed, running from the home during an interview with the Miami Herald.

Beekeepers reportedly removed more than 3 million bees from the apartment. They extracted nearly 60 pounds of honey.  Beekeepers speculate they got in via a small exterior hole, and built a home behind the kitchen cabinets.

The news gets even more interesting.  Drug Investigators are scratching their heads a little further north on the Atlantic shoreline of Hollywood, Florida, trying to figure out why almost $500,000 worth of cocaine washed up at a Hollywood beach.

Police Captain Tony Rode said officers found about 37 kilograms of cocaine Tuesday morning wrapped tightly in cellophane. He also said the Blow bundle was likely out at sea for a month before it hit land. Reported the Herald.

Apparently drug runners dump their blow off their boats when being chased by the Coast Guard.  The recovered clear wrap around the drugs was encrusted with barnacles.

Some fun Florida facts courtesy of 50States.com:

# The largest lake in Florida is Lake Okeechobee.
 
# May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers passed and sent to the Governor a bill adopting the moonstone as the official state gem. Ironically, the moonstone is not found naturally in Florida...nor was it found on the moon.
 
# In 1987 the Florida legislature designated the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) the official state reptile. Long an unofficial symbol of the state, the alligator originally symbolized Florida's extensive untamed wilderness and swamps.
 
# Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine especially for rollerbladers.
 
# Ybor City was once known as the Cigar Capital of the World with nearly 12,000 tabaqueros (cigar-makers) employed in 200 factories. Ybor City produced an estimated 700 million cigars a year at the industry's peak.
 
# Plant City, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, holds the Guinness record for the world's largest strawberry shortcake. The 827 square-foot, 6,000 pound cake was made on Feb. 19, 1999 in McCall Park.
 
# The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a cable-stayed concrete bridge. Opened in 1987 the bridge coasts through the clouds at 190 feet above water. Its bright yellow support cables spread from the two center pillars. The structure gives drivers unobstructed view of the water during the 4.1 mile trip over Tampa Bay.
 
# Nearly 80 percent of the states intake of sweet Atlantic white shrimp is harvested in Amelia Island waters. Two million pounds of shrimp are delivered to Fernandina docks annually.
 
# DeFuniak Springs is home to one of the two naturally round lakes in the world.
 
# The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens at Delray Beach is the only museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to the living culture of Japan.
 
# Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because the city has 185 miles of local waterways.
 
# Fort Meade is the oldest settlement in Polk County. It dates back to 1849 when a settlement grew up around the United States Cavalry fort during the Seminole Indian Wars.
 
# The Fred Bear Museum in Gainesville is a tribute to the accomplishments of Fred Bear a promoter of proper wildlife management and the founder of Bear Archery Company.
 
# The Hawthorne Trail a part of Florida's Rails to Trails program and attracts many outdoor enthusiasts to walk, cycle, or ride horseback through its 17-mile length.
 
# Just north of Haines City is the Baseball City Stadium the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals. Haines City is known as The Heart of Florida.
 
# The city of Hypoluxo's name comes from the Seminole expression water all 'round -- no get out.
 
# Islamorada is billed as the Sports fishing Capital of the World.
 
# Key Largo is known as the Dive Capital of the World.
 
# Marathon is home to Crane Point Hammock, a 63.5 acre land tract that is one of the most important historical and archaeological sites in the Keys. The area contains evidence of pre-Colombian and prehistoric Bahamian artifacts, and once was the site of an entire Indian village.
 
# Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West was built between 1845 and 1866. Controlled by the Union during the Civil War, the fort was the home base for a successful blockade of Confederate ships that some historians say shortened the conflict by a full year. The fort also was active during the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II.
 
# The first graded road built in Florida was Old Kings Road in 1763. It was named for King George of England.
 
# During the 1991 Gulf War the busiest military port in the country was Jacksonville. From this location the military moved more supplies and people than any other port in the country.
 
# When first completed in 1989 the Dame Point Bridge became the longest cable-stayed span in the United States, the longest concrete span of its type in the Western Hemisphere, and the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.
 
# The longest river sailboat race in the world is the Annual Mug Race. The event runs 42 miles from Palatka to Jacksonville along the St. Johns River.
 
# The Olustee Battlefield State Historic Site commemorates the largest battle fought in Florida during the American Civil War.
 
# Venice is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World. Collecting prehistoric sharks teeth has been a favorite pastime of visitors and residents of the Venice area for years