Alaska-bound honeybees find new homes after tragedy at Atlanta airport

Bill Crumpler holds up a honeycomb to examine the bees’ state from a hive rescued from the tarmac of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport a month before when a shipment of millions of bees meant for Alaska was diverted from California. (Matthew Pearson / for WABE News)

Bill Crumpler stood in front of a handful of honeybee hives tucked away on conservation land in the industrial outskirts of Atlanta.

These were not his normal bees. 

They were rescued from among millions of honeybees that died in a Delta cargo bay in the April sun. The more than 600 pounds of bees were supposed to go from Sacramento to Anchorage, but due to flight cancellations, the bees ended up at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport.