A swarm of honeybees landed on the wing of a plane used for flight school training, parked on the tarmac of the airport's west side off Burley Street.

Nordeide called Danvers police, who put him in touch with a local bee removal expert, Al Wilkins of Middleton.

Wilkins arrived and used a specially designed vacuum to suck the bees off the wing and from the ground below the plane. Wilkins has relocated the bees to hives where they will produce honey.

"I thought they were crash-landed in the airport," said Wilkins, who has been removing bees from houses and structures since 1978.

At this time of year, Wilkins said, his phone is buzzing with calls to remove bee swarms, which happen when an old queen bee leaves the hive with a group of followers in search of a place to make a new nest. The queen leaves the hive to make way for a new queen about to hatch in special cells inside.

"That's how they propagate," said Wilkins, who estimated the swarm at 10,000.