Neighbors’ Sweet Tip or a Sting Operation?

County firefighters got a honey of a surprise Thursday after they received a tip from a couple of good Samaritans who thought they had spotted three people dumping hazardous waste in the Antelope Valley.

Firefighter Jeff Hudspeth said one of the callers, whose names were not released, called 911 about 11 a.m. and reported seeing three people dressed in white protective suits driving around in a pickup truck filled with three 55-gallon drums off Mt. Emma Road, about a mile west of 47th Street East in Palmdale.

“They couldn’t see what they were dumping so they called us and we went,” Hudspeth said.

Firefighters joined deputies from the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station at the informants’ ranch and drove to the scene, county Fire Capt. Mark Bennett said.

The caravan drove through a hilly area and off Mt. Emma Road in search of the suspected hazardous waste violators.

Instead, they discovered a beehive and quickly realized that the suited men were beekeepers.

“It was humorous, but I’m glad it was humorous because hazardous material spills happen out here all the time,” Hudspeth said. “It’s one of the main problems in the open desert.”

Firefighters later spotted the beekeepers in their pickup truck. They explained that the drums were filled with sugar water, which is used to feed the sage honey bees in the winter.

As for the good Samaritans, “they were embarrassed,” Hudspeth said.

“They couldn’t see the beehive . . . they could only see the guys in the white suits going off the road.”

“It was a good-intent call,” Bennett said.