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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Laura Ferguson

Huge swarm of bees gather outside Glasgow city centre bar forcing venue to close

A huge swarm of bees gathered and nested outside a Glasgow city centre bar, forcing the premises to close.

The mass of bees arrived at 63rd+1st over the weekend and settled on the railing outside the front of the venue on Bothwell Street on Sunday (June 25).

Staff were forced to escape the premises through the fire exit as the bees marked their territory with the bar closed for the day before reopening on Monday.

Images show the bees gradually relocating to a nearby wheelie bin with staff able to barricade the bin away from the public, the BBC reports.

READ MORE: Glasgow teen leads police on stolen car chase through east end before running off

Duty manager Petya Petrova said: "Hundreds of them swarmed outside the entire front of the building.

"I have no idea what happened, they just arrived randomly and settled onto the railing in about 10 minutes. We ended up having to close because it's obviously a safety risk, with it being so close to the entrance.

"We put up a sign to explain we had to close because of the bee colony on the terrace. But we still saw some people going up close to them and trying to touch the bees, which probably isn't a good idea."

The bees eventually gathered on a wheelie bin by the bar. (Sara Sheridan/@sarahsheridan)

The manager put a bin near the swarm and gradually they started moving over.

The bees gradually moved over to the wheelie bin, allowing the bar to reopen for dinner on Monday.

Petya said: "Apparently they send scouts over to check out a new place to nest.

"And then they all moved over, which meant we were able to move the bin away from the entrance and reopen for dinner on Monday night."

The bees are set to be removed today with Petya saying she spent days trying to find someone who would deal with the issue.

She said: "The council said they don't deal with bees.

"And we phoned a pest control company and they arrived and took one look at the bees and said they couldn't help.

"We spoke to some beekeepers who couldn't send anyone immediately and said we needed to wait 24 to 48 hours in case it was just a swarm that would move on, and not a nest.

Petya added: "I've got used to them while they've been there.

"I'm a lot less scared of bees now. It's mental though, I've never seen anything like it."

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