Marlins Win Game of Hive and Go Seek

Florida’s 4-2 victory over Montreal on Friday created a real buzz. And it wasn’t because the game marked Cliff Floyd’s return to Miami since being traded to the Expos. The game was delayed for a few minutes because of a swarm of bees.

The bees provided a bizarre backdrop. There were an estimated 20,000 bees under the seats in Section 145--the box seats behind the Marlins’ dugout.

The section was roped off about 30 minutes before the game, and the Marlins called in a bee specialist to take care of the problem.

Christian Harveson, who calls himself the Bee Man, went to work, sucking up the bees with a vacuum cleaner. Harveson arrived wearing a blue T-shirt, but the Marlins made him put on a Marlin T-shirt and cap, because they knew he “would get a lot of air time,” said P.J. Loyello, the Marlins’ vice president of communications and broadcasting.

“You know he will be on SportsCenter.”

Trivia time: Besides Jackie Robinson’s, what three uniform numbers have the San Diego Padres retired?

Question, Mark: Mark Cuban has done wonders as owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, which is why nearly 100 folks bombarded him with e-mails this week when Drayton McLane Jr. said he would sell baseball’s Houston Astros if he isn’t happy with the new labor agreement.

“Houston’s a great town, but I don’t think so,” Cuban said about buying out McLane. “I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I have an NL team in the Pirates, and I have an AL team with the [Texas] Rangers. It would be painful. I don’t think there’s any way I could do the Astros.

“I’ve probably gotten 100 e-mails from people asking me if I’d be willing to buy the team. One team is enough for right now. Plus, my girlfriend would kill me.”

Horsing around: Ralph Palmer of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, decided to mix in a little competition while visiting his daughter in California recently.

An avid horseshoe pitcher, Palmer found a tournament in the San Diego area and decided to enter. He won.

Palmer, 63, said horseshoe pitching is a challenging game.

“People have always liked a game where getting it close to something counts,” he said.

Palmer said he likes horseshoes for two reasons.

“I can do it whenever and for however long I want to,” he said. “It will consume your mind enough so the rest of the world escapes.”

Bite the bullet: Rock star Bob Seger said this year’s Race to Mackinac boat competition was scary because of severe storms that forced at least 18 boats to drop out of the 333-mile race from Chicago to Mackinac Island, located between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas.

Seger and the crew of his 52-foot sailboat, Lightning, finished the race, but the nearly 70-mph winds and torrential rain split one of the boat’s sails and tipped it hard to one side as the storm hit.

“We were OK, but it was scary. I was saying, ‘Do I want to do this anymore?’ ”

Trivia answer: 6 (Steve Garvey), 31 (Dave Winfield) and 35 (Randy Jones).

And finally: Boston’s Nomar Garciaparra, after hitting three homers in a game Tuesday, which was his birthday: “On birthdays, I’m usually pretty low-key.”