Some Random Guy Left A Jar Of Bees In A Bookstore, And Twitter Was Buzzing With Jokes
To bee or not to bee? That was the question for the staff at a small London bookstore yesterday after discovering a jar of bees left behind by a forgetful customer in a blue coat. In their search for the elusive "Bee Gent" they unwittingly set the hive mind on Twitter abuzz with bee-related puns.
"Please come back and reclaim your jar of bees," is not something most bookstore employees expect to have to write one day, but for the employees at the London Review Bookshop yesterday was that day.
After finding an abandoned jar of bees on a table in their poetry section the staff didn't have much to go on, only remembering the customer who left the jar as a "friendly gent" in a blue coat.
So they took to Twitter, and in hopes of tracking down the unknown beekeeper wrote perhaps the strangest tweet ever written.
if you were or are the friendly gent (blue coat) who was in the shop half an hour ago and left a big jar of bees onโฆ https://t.co/FV8tVbfASfโ LRB Bookshop (@LRB Bookshop) 1552745096.0
Twitter was soon buzzing about the mysterious blue-coated stranger and the search for the Bee Gent was on.
@LRBbookshop We need to comb the area to #findthebeegentโ Elizabeth Bower ๐ (@Elizabeth Bower ๐) 1552761945.0
@LRBbookshop @CharlesPPierce https://t.co/pGwRm5Kmruโ Joe Fรคlschung (@Joe Fรคlschung) 1552752276.0
@JFalschung @LRBbookshop @CharlesPPierce Bey Hive https://t.co/1ziiLi9KdBโ Calla ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ (@Calla ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐) 1552780443.0
@LRBbookshop @hannahrosewoods Please post follow ups. So many questionsโ KK Lena (@KK Lena) 1552754433.0
@LRBbookshop https://t.co/nJO4p5qrl3โ Slade (@Slade) 1552752171.0
@gutterbookshop @LRBbookshop https://t.co/P8tuoPxHElโ Rockin' Bubbles Rialto Takes Meowhattan ๐ (@Rockin' Bubbles Rialto Takes Meowhattan ๐) 1552769633.0
@LRBbookshop https://t.co/MKBi2txgb5โ Waterstones Liverpool (@Waterstones Liverpool) 1552764267.0
It didn't taking long before Twitter was swarmed with all sorts of bee-related puns.
@LRBbookshop No doubt part of a sting operation.โ Brett Faubert (@Brett Faubert) 1552751212.0
@planetgravy @LRBbookshop Classic honeytrapโ Dr Alyson Hunt (@Dr Alyson Hunt) 1552754929.0
@LRBbookshop I saw his face, now Iโm a bee leaverโ Nick Harrison (@Nick Harrison) 1552758952.0
@LRBbookshop Nice to get some freebees once in a while though eh?โ Steve Hey (@Steve Hey) 1552750061.0
And eventually the literary setting inspired many to pen their own poetic odes to the jar of forsaken bees.
@LRBbookshop In London, the home of the Bard, Was orphaned a swarm of bees (jarred). Though often in bonnets, Theseโฆ https://t.co/7uupLdRJYDโ Liberal Limericks (@Liberal Limericks) 1552768915.0
@LRBbookshop A big jar of bees left on the table in the poetry section by a friendly gent with a blue coat, distraโฆ https://t.co/mUZw2leflVโ Charles Lambert (@Charles Lambert) 1552748384.0
So far the Bee Gent hasn't returned to the claim his lost jar, but something tells it won't bee long before he does.
@LRBbookshop @StephanieCarvin Iโll โbeeโ back, he said, as he walked out the door. https://t.co/sm6r5uUzDQโ alexis (@alexis) 1552750118.0