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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Katie Williams & Jordan Shepherd

Scots village under attack by thousands of bees as locals 'flee for lives'

A Scots family were left "running for their lives" after a swarm of bees invaded a West Lothian village.

Paul Duncan, 42, from West Calder, initially noticed the insects after he arrived for work at the Arnold Clark garage on Monday, June 5, and found them buzzing around a car.

The buzzing creatures soon moved on from the car and drifted down the street, stopping at a wall near a post office and spooking passers-by.

Speaking to Edinburgh Live, he said: "I just saw thousands of bees swarming around the car in Arnold Clark. I've never seen anything like that before, it was like something out of a film or a nature programme.

"I don't know where they've come from, but the guys at work reckon it could have been a hive that has been disturbed or a local beekeeper. But they just appeared today.

"There were quite a lot of people walking up and down the street at the time, and when they suddenly noticed the bees were there, they would pull their coats over their heads and were running for their lives," said Paul.

"Cars were driving past and suddenly the windows would go up. It was quite funny actually!"

He added: "They drifted down the street a little and came back up. They are all hanging about a wall at the post office now."

Paul explained that the same thing happened last year in the area.

"I don't remember anyone talking about a swarm, but there were a lot of bees on the wall and people weren't walking past it. Maybe they were building a hive."

West Lothian Council has advice for bee infestations on its website. It states: "If there are large numbers of bees in a clump they are likely to be honey bees and a local beekeeper should be contacted to remove them safely.

"We don't treat bees because they are good for our gardens, plants and the food we rely on to eat. Bees should be encouraged whenever possible."

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