They are in the backyard of Seth Belson, president of the South Jersey Beekeepers Association.

While no humans who encountered the bees on the turnpike were injured, thousands of bees died after being thrown from their honeycombs onto hot asphalt in 100 degree temperatures on the turnpike near Exit 3 in Runnemede after a northbound truck lost the cargo.

Some bees were rescued by New Jersey's state beekeeper, Tim Shuler, who took them in his car to Belson, the closest bee specialist.

Belson, a public defender, is monitoring the hive in his backyard, where the bees are resting in the shade between pine trees on the 1.5-acre property.

"I did not find a queen yet, which is not necessarily atypical. . . . They're acting normal and at the moment seem to be OK given the heat and the physical disruption that occurred," Belson said from Rhode Island, where he is on vacation.

The hive, a nucleus hive, is a small enclosure that probably contained 10,000 to 15,000 bees. Now its population has been reduced to just a few thousand, Belson said yesterday.

While officials are attempting to locate the driver of the truck transporting the hive, it is unlikely that owners will come forward to claim it, as the truck was most likely just passing through the state, Belson said.

"The nucleus hive is generally what beekeepers use to start new ones," Belson said, which gives some clues to who might have been carrying the bees and for what purpose. For example, the hive could have been on its way to a farm or being transported by the hive owner for other purposes.

The task now is to wait and see if the queen bee is still alive or if the bees have crowned a new ruler. If no bee ascends to power, a new queen can be purchased online for $20. The worst case is that the surviving bees will be moved to another hive, he said.

Beekeepers routinely transport hives by truck to pollinate crops along the East Coast from Maine to Florida. "They start in February in Florida and hit Maine by August," he said.