Drone company creates a buzz

LAFAYETTE — With four years of research and development under his belt, Allen Bishop is gearing up to take orders for his commercial drones in February.  His company, Reference Technologies Inc., known as ReferenceTek, has developed a series of drones named after the only bird that can fly one-quarter of a mile backwards: the Hummingbird.

Unlike hobby drones, which typically have flight times in the five- to seven-minute range and can carry little extra weight for add-ons such as cameras, Reference Technologies’ Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can carry 50 pounds and spend about six hours in…