A Tatumville resident and State Gazette customer was greeted on Thursday with a great surprise.

When Wilie "Bill" Lemons went to retrieve his State Gazette from the blue newspaper delivery box facing Tatumville Road, he noticed something wasn't quite right.

Upon further inspection, he noticed that a hive of honey bees had taken up residence in his blue box.

"That's nature at it's best," said Lemons, who said he kept bees a couple of years as a hobby.

Lemons said that the queen is inside the box, and that the scout bees probably found the location when their own hive got disturbed.

A friend offered to vacuum the bees from the box.

Lemons, who didn't want to destroy any of his tiny neighbors, decided against it.

He said he hopes he could borrow a hive from someone to put the bees in so he could feed them this winter. Since the queen is inside the hive, it is too late in the year for the colony to produce enough honey to feed it through the winter.

Lemons said that he is just going to leave them alone for now.

"We have such a shortage of bees that we can't afford to kill any of them, and they will probably leave on their own anyway." he said.

State Gazette carrier Wesley East also was surprised by the nesting bees when he put his hand in the box to deliver the paper.

The takeover of the blue box by buzzing bees wasn't the only thing worth mentioning at the Lemons residence this week.

The buzz on Wednesday was the celebration of Lemons' 72nd birthday and he and his wife's 32nd anniversary.