Nun Arrested for Smuggling 6,000 Bees in Her Habit

A Greek Orthodox nun was arrested on charges of smuggling 6,000 European bees and a hive into Kenya by hiding them under her habit as she passed through airport customs, a police spokesman said Friday.

He said Sister Irene of the Greek Orthodox church in Riruta, a suburb of Nairobi, admitted that she brought the bees into the country illegally by concealing them under her habit Dec. 21 after a flight from Greece. It was not known how she hid them.

She said she keeps bees to produce church candles from their beeswax.

A church spokesman admitted that the nun had smuggled the bees into the country, but said police exaggerated the number and that there were only three or four queen bees and perhaps 100 others. All were confiscated and destroyed after the scheme came to light when she took the bees to the Ministry of Agriculture this week to be compared and mated with local varieties.

Bees are considered livestock under Kenyan law, and an import permit is required to bring them into the country. Kenya tries to exclude European bees for fear of importing contagious diseases.