Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Katie Williams

West Lothian village attacked by thousands of bees as locals 'run for their lives'

Freaked out families in a West Lothian village are "running for their lives" after a swarm of thousands of bees invaded on Monday.

Paul Duncan, 42, from West Calder, arrived for work at the Arnold Clark garage at the beginning of the week to find the creatures buzzing around one of the cars.

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.

READ NEXT- Edinburgh pub boss posts cheeky social media message as new tram line finally opens

"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.

Thousands of bees congregated on the street (Paul Duncan)

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.

"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 spotted the bees on Monday (Paul Duncan)

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's offers advice on 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."

READ NEXT-

Abandoned Edinburgh betting shop to become Asian restaurant with 'live kitchen'

Edinburgh police 'concerned' for missing Leith woman as public appeal launched

Son of Edinburgh boxing legend Ken Buchanan claims he's 'not allowed' to see dad's will

Lewis Capaldi makes 'difficult' decision to cancel upcoming gigs to 'rest and recover'

Edinburgh police searching for man last seen wearing company work clothes

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.