20,000 Bees Swarm Over Car Looking For Their Queen

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A swarm of 20,000 bees descended on a grandmother’s car and followed her for two days after their Queen reportedly became trapped in the boot.

The “brown splodge” that was covering the car was spotted by a passing National Park ranger who called in beekeepers to gather it up

The Mirror reports:

Hundreds of the insects had flown down onto the silver Mitsubishi Outlander, covering and entire side of the boot.

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A passing National Park ranger spotted the bizarre “brown splodge” parked outside a pub and called in two beekeepers to gather it up.

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The car’s owner Carol Howarth returned to drive off with no idea of the sticky situation her car had been in before driving off.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ranger Tom Moses saw the swarm on the car parked outside the Three Crowns pub in Haverfordwest.

Tom, 41, told Wales Online: “It was spectacular. I was driving through when I spotted the big brown splodge.

“A lot of people were really amazed by it, cars were slowing down and people were taking pictures of it.

“I was a little bit concerned, with it being in the middle of town outside a pub, that someone might do something stupid and get hurt or do something stupid and hurt the bees,” he said.

Keen environmentalist Tom often talks to people about the struggles bees face as a result of pesticides and habitat destruction – and stepped in to help.

Tom contacted the Pembrokeshire Beekeepers’ Association and two came out to round up the swarm.

He was stung while assisting the rescue but said he was glad to have been around.

Tom said: “At the national park, we like people to be aware of how important bees are and how people should be looking after them.”

But when Carol drove off in her 4×4 hundreds more of the bees then followed her the two miles home to carry on chasing the car.

Carol said: “It was incredible really. I’ve never seen anything like it – it just goes to show the power of nature.”

As the bees followed her home, she had to call out the beekeepers again on Monday at 6pm to box up the rest.

Carol said: “One theory was that the queen was trapped in my car and the swarm were following her.

“But they couldn’t find the queen anywhere so I’ve no idea if that was right.

“Apparently bees can swarm at this time of the year and it is a very strong instinct for them to follow the queen.

Roger Burns, of Pembrokeshire Beekeepers, said: “It is possible the queen had been attracted to something in the car – perhaps a sweet or food in the car.

“The swarm of around 20,000 had followed her and were sat around on the boot of the car.

“I brought over a cardboard box and carefully brushed them into there as quickly as possible as I was aware it was a big swarm in the middle of the high street.

“I got about 15 or 20 stings for my trouble.

“I then left the cardboard box on the roof while we waited for the last few hundred bees to leave the boot but then a gust of wind blew it off and the queen may have fled back to the boot again.”

Retired GP Roger, 65, said:”I then had to leave and another beekeeper took up the watch however eventually the car owner returned and drove off.

“I have been beekeeping for 30 years and I have never seen a swarm do that.

“It is natural for them to follow the queen but it is a strange thing to see and quite surprising to have a car followed for days.

“It was quite amusing.”