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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Amy Walker

Thousands of bees cover sign in Manchester city centre

Another swarm of bees has been spotted on the bottom half of a sign in Manchester city centre.

Footage shows thousands of bees covering the Manchester International Festival sign located on Peter Street, near Deansgate.

Passersby occasionally stopped for a glance, but kept walking as a number of bees circulated the swarm.

READ MORE: Incredible moment thousands of bees descend on BMW in Manchester city centre

Just yesterday, a BMW became home to another swarm of bees outside an office block.

Footage showed the swarm of bees covering the entire back window of the car on St James Square, near Deansgate.

Crowds gathered to watch the spectacle shortly midday on Tuesday (June 15).

The swarm were stationed at the bottom half of the sign (Manchester Evening News)

According to the British Beekeepers Association, a honeybee colony will swam to reproduce, when the old queen leaves a colony with some of the bees.

They leave their hive and find a spot to wait in until their scout bees decide on a new home for the colony.

Most of the time, bees will swarm on warm, sunny days between May and July, usually after a spell of poor weather.

Thousands of bees will usually come together in a large noisy cloud during the swarm, before settling in a cluster whilst they wait for the scouts to return.

Most honey bee swarms are not aggressive, but people are asked to stay away from them as a precaution.

Second sighting in 24 hours

Yesterday, a bee keeper arrived at the scene in Deansgate, and could be seen attempting to get the hive into a cardboard box.

Michael Hewitt, 55, had been returning from his lunch break when he noticed a 'commotion' outside his office building and the bees covering the car.

"There were a lot of people outside and the bees were quite airborne then," he said, speaking to the Manchester Evening News .

"I think the queen had landed on the car and then all the other bees followed.

"There was easily thousands of them. There have been lots of people watching.

"There is a bee keeper at the moment trying to get them all into a box which is hilarious.

"There are still at least a thousand on the car outside at the moment."

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