Misbehaving: Colony of honeybees decide to set up camp in a Nissan Micra.
A 21-year-old student from Southsea in Hants got a bit of a surprise when he walked out to find 20,000 bees had turned his Nissan Micra into a temporary hive.
Reports say the swarm of bees had been following the queen bee, which had decided to land on the green Nissan. Student George Heal described the events.
“It was a bit of a weird thing to see. I thought it was a bit dangerous considering there were a number of children in the area so I called the council. The bees were quite noisy but thankfully I’m not scared of them at all,” he told the Daily Express newspaper.
Porthsmouth City Council enrolled the help of bee collector Graham Cook to round up the swarm of European honey bees, which are now said to be safe and well.
Honeybee swarms have been appearing at various urban areas elsewhere in the UK. A 5,000-strong colony recently set up shop at a central London Topshop clothing store. Another colony chose Woodingdean Primary School in Sussex as its new home.
The recent hot weather has caused bees to expand their colony sizes, leading to a second queen bee, which then moves out in a bid to find a new home. Experts say most urban swarms come from beekeepers.
Bees perform a valuable service, including the pollination of plants and creation of honey. Without bees we would have to go without cotton, tea and coffee to name a few things. Unfortunately numbers have been in decline worldwide, with pesticides used on crops the most likely cause. Three pesticides linked to killing bees have been banned in certain EU countries, but not the UK.
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