Dozens of firefighters were in action after a swarm of bees ended up on a busy street in a city in Germany.
Dortmund Police said the local fire brigade had been called in after the thousands of pollinators were spotted scrambling in the middle of a road in the northeastern district of Scharnhorst.
The authorities called in an apiarist. The expert decided to place a hive on the ground. The pollinators resettled there quickly, according to Matthias Kleinhans, a spokesman for the police in the North-Rhine Westphalian city.
Matthias explained that, according to the beekeeper, the insects had been unable to find their way back to the queen after dropping five metres to the ground from a tree.
Firefighters – who deployed nine trucks to secure the area – used an aerial ladder to salvage the bees which had stayed with their queen in the treetop as well as the queen bee itself.
At the end of the operation, which lasted around one hour, the beekeeper took the colony with him to add it to his apiary.
The website of the Kreisimkerverein Dortmund, the city’s main association of beekeepers, features an illustrated guide of what happens when individuals alert an expert to remove a swarm from their garden.
The Haustiermagazin, a publication focusing on pet-care advice and nature-related news, explains: “If you spot a swarm of honeybees in your garden, do the most simple thing: nothing. After some time, the bees should leave to find a hollow tree or something similar.”
According to the magazine, informing firefighters is “unnecessary” as they would refer most callers to a beekeeper.
