Phoenix Store boss George Grundmuller said that he can hardly order enough Marshmallow Peeps to keep up with demand.

These sweet and sticky yellow birds are flying off the shelves in Bermuda ? and not just in the run up to Easter.

?It is our biggest selling item,? said Mr. Grundmuller. ?We cannot keep them on the shelves. The children love them.

?There is a fan club, T-shirts, a website and all sorts of things connected to the Peeps. We sell thousands and thousands of them and just keep on having to order more and more.?

Peeps are made by Just Born, a US company, which produces more than one billion Peeps a year. In 1953 it took 27 hours to create one Marshmallow Peep, but today it takes six minutes.

During the early years Peeps were squeezed one at a time out of a pastry tube and the eyes were painted on by hand. Now technology means that 3,800 Peeps are churned out every minute.

As many as 4.2 million Marshmallow Peeps, Bunnies, and other shapes are made each day at Just Born?s Bethlehem, Pennsylvania factory.

Last Easter, more than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps and Bunnies were consumed by men, women, and children throughout the United States.

Strange things people like to do with Marshmallow Peeps include eating them stale, microwaving them, freezing them, roasting them, and use them as a pizza topping, according to the company?s web site.

Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue, and white and each Peep has 32 calories (160 calories per five-chick serving) and zero grams of fat.

Each year Just Born receives thousands of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from consumers acknowledging their passion for Peeps ? and perhaps a few will find their way from Bermuda now.