Swarm of 30,000 bees forces city-centre street closure
Monday, June 1, 2015 @ 10:27 AM
A SWARM of over 30,000 bees which entered a parked car in the northern city of León forced Local Police to close an entire street for three hours yesterday (Saturday).
Pedestrians were diverted until gone 20.00hrs, and drivers were flagged down upon entering the central C/ Padre Adintero and warned to keep their windows closed.
The queen bee escaped from her hive and flew into a vehicle by the roadside at around 15.30, and the rest of the worker bees followed her, squeezing in through the bonnet.
They were not discovered until around 17.00hrs, when a 'green patrol' of the Local Police was sent out to deal with the swarm.
Officers called the bee-keeper, but he did not reach the scene for another two hours, during which the street was closed to walkers and car drivers advised to proceed with caution.
The bee-keeper, in full protective uniform and gloves, 'smoked' the creatures out of the car into a cardboard box with a honeycomb inside it.
It took at least an hour for him to remove them all and take them back to their hive.
This is the second incident in as many weeks in the northern region of Castilla y León involving escaped bees.
An 85-year-old man out for a walk near the village of Serradilla del Arroyo (Salamanca province) was attacked by over 700 bees on Sunday, May 17.
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