A swarm of thousands of bees descended on a Welsh garden leaving residents gobsmacked. The insects clung to a tree trunk outside a block of flats in Bargoed for around four hours on Sunday, June 12.
Leah Dacey, 41, was alerted to the swarm when her mother, who lives next door to her, rang her at around 11am. Leah said: "My mum’s neighbour who lives up above her rang to tell her to close her doors and windows and to not go outside. She said there’s a massive swarm of bees or wasps around her tree trunk in the morning. I live next door to my mother so I went over and could see thousands and thousands of them there."
It is now swarm season for honey bees, which generally occurs between spring and early summer and is most prevalent in the months of May, June and July. These swarms can form anywhere, from cars to roofs, walls, floors, trees and chimneys. Although the sight of thousands of bees can scare people, they are just looking for a new home, and are not intent on attacking or stinging anyone. The swarm serves to protect the queen bee.
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Unsure of what to do, Leah said she called specialists in Cardiff for advice. She said: "I phoned an emergency place in Cardiff and he said you’re going to have to wait 24 to 48 hours because if they can’t find a nest, they’ll just go on their own anyway. We had someone from the council due [on Tuesday] coming to try and get rid of them."
At one point, Leah explained how the bees flew into the sky at once, circling the garden. She said she had never before seen anything like it. She said: "A few hours after, my mum called me to look out my window and it was like something out of a film. The sky was black with them - it was crazy.
"I just thought what the hell is going on because I haven't got any knowledge of wasps or bees or anything like that. I was wondering what’s attracting them to it. But the specialist said nothing may have attracted them to it, they’re just looking for a somewhere to nest." You can get more Caerphilly stories by signing up to our WalesOnline newsletter here
Later that afternoon, Leah said the entire swam left the garden, leaving it as though they were never there. She said: "They’re all gone now, they all flew away Sunday afternoon and we haven't seen them since."
Despite how bizarre the event may seem, other sightings of huge swarms of bees have been spotted in Wales in recent weeks. On Sunday afternoon a huge cluster of the insects were seen on the bonnet of a van in Maesteg. As a result, people were urged to avoid the area until they left around an hour later.
In May, a car owner was also left in shock when a swarm landed on her back window in Merthyr Tydfil. Beekeeper and 'swarm remover' Sue Fink, recently told the Manchester Evening News about what to do when you encounter a swarm. Echoing Lynne's advice, she said: "When you see swarms of bees attacking people in a film, that will not happen in real life.
"Because a swarm of bees is sworn to defend the queen bee, who is in the middle of that swarm. All they’re interested in is in protecting their queen. You could walk past the swarm, you could stand and watch them, or sit underneath them, and they would completely ignore you.
"Remember, worker bees are sworn to protect their queen. And if you disturb them with a stick and if the queen bee moves out, then the worker bees would be frenzied and they would sting you."
