Buzz off! Skin-crawling moment thousands of bees swarm down chimney and invade family’s kitchen
- Thousands of bees took over a family kitchen Broughton Green, Worcestershire
- In search of a new hive they entered the house through the chimney
- They could not escape from the kitchen and were rescued by a beekeeper
A swarm of bees travelled down a family’s chimney and took over their kitchen while looking for a new hive.
Anya Butler woke up to the sound of bees buzzing before they gradually flew down her chimney and into her house in Broughton Green, Worcestershire.
Footage shows thousands of insects circling above the family’s chimney while the family discuss whether they are bees or wasps.
After entering the house through the chimney the bees took over the family’s kitchen and lined the windows in Broughton Green, Worcestershire
The family were unable to use their kitchen for five days as the bees had no way of escaping
Pictured: Anya Butler who said her family was happy to see the bees ‘happy and safe’ after they were rescued
Anya says: ‘I didn’t realise that’s what the noise was.
‘I can hear it right in my room.’
The footage cuts to the inside of the house showing the bees frantically flying around and lining the shut windows.
Because the bees were not able to escape the family had no access to their kitchen for five days.
Anya’s mother had the clever idea to sweep them into a box while they were sleeping and the footage shows them completely still, bunched together inside the carton.
This made it easier for the beekeeper to take them away after the five-day ordeal.
The end of the video shows some boxes with the caption: ‘Cardboard box is for bees we just rescued, plastic box is the actual hive.’
The footage also showed the bees completely still and swarmed together while they were sleeping at night
Anya’s mother cleverly thought to sweep some of the sleeping bees into a cardboard box which made it easier for the beekeeper to rescue them
Anya said: ‘We all began to panic when they came in their thousands.
‘We were all relieved to see them happy and safe – bees are great and it was wonderful to see them sleeping peacefully.
‘The whole ordeal lasted about five days but by day three most of the bees were in a box outside.
‘My mum is very brave – she deserves all the credit for keeping the honey bees safe and I’m proud of her!
‘At night, my mum came in and swept the sleeping bees into jars and put them into the cardboard box and moved them outside.’
Professor of Apiculture (Evolution, Behaviour and Environment) Francis Ratnieks, at the University of Sussex, said it is normal for bee colonies to swarm in Spring.
He said: ‘It is a natural part of their life cycle, and is how one colony divides into two.
‘It is reproduction.
‘The mother queen and about two or three of the worker bees leave the established nest and temporarily settle nearby, often in a bush or tree.
‘Worker bees then scout out possible nest sites in the surrounding area.
‘Within a few days the swarm has found a number of cavities and decided on the best one to move to.
‘The whole swarm then takes off and moves to the new nest location, and builds wax combs, the queen lays eggs, and the newly established colony forages, builds combs and rears new bees.
‘In nature, most nest cavities would be in hollow trees.
‘But man made structures provide many potential nest cavities, such as in chimneys and in cavities in walls.
‘It is spectacular to see a swarm of bees on the move, as they form a cloud of bees the size of a house.
‘The bees in a swarm will rarely sting unless they are molested.’