Russia - Bees on a plane

From the Moscow Times (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/bees-on-a-plane/442295.html) today:

Passengers aboard a Moscow-bound Boeing 757 flying from Blagoveshchensk were in for a nasty shock when bees started buzzing around the cabin mid-flight, Yakutia Airlines said Thursday.

A tipsy business-class passenger, it turned out, had smuggled two beehives on board at the request of the Blagoveshchensk airport's deputy director, who wanted them shipped to Moscow.

The shipment did not go smoothly, though. As soon as the Yakutia jet reached cruise altitude, the bees began to creep out of the two cardboard boxes that served as their hives, the airline said by e-mail.

The russians have a thing for bees / honey.

The former mayor of Moscow is now a full time beekeeper. Also all the fancy Russian / Georgian restaurants feature all kinds of honey in the dessert section.

Perhaps someone can explain.

The russians have a thing for bees / honey.I detest it.

I've witnessed livestock on board in Russia. With seat assignments. Aeroflot early 1990s.

We had a lovely thread about the old Aeroflot and its many, many stories on flyertalk ~10 years ago.

about 10 years ago, we went to the central covered market in petersburg. half the stands were selling honey. they provided large samples.

It goes well with tea, which also has some adherents here. :)

I think it's a sign of how things have changed that this is news and not par for the course anymore.

That being said, the last time I flew to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky the overheads were stuffed full of melons...which is sort of like flying with wine back from San Francisco (back when you used to be able to bring it on board). The produce in Kamchatka was expensive, so people brought it back from the capital.