A large swarm of bees descended on one of Auckland’s busiest intersections on Thursday afternoon, prompting pedestrians to be redirected from part of Queen St.
According to a report by NewstalkZB, Thousands of bees gathered around a direction signboard at the corner of Queen St and Wellesley St West, opposite The Civic, drawing passers-by's attention.
Auckland Council Head of Compliance Adrian Wilson said a council compliance warden had alerted the Auckland Beekeepers Club about the swarm.
“We currently have four wardens on site redirecting foot traffic,” Wilson said.
One witness told the Herald that a security guard was directing pedestrians away from one side of the street and asking them to use the opposite footpath.
“I was like, ‘Well, why? I can’t see anything dangerous,” the witness said.
After crossing the road, the witness discovered “bees everywhere” and said the swarm appeared to be attempting to establish a new hive, as reported by NewstalkZB.
The witness described the unusual scene as “quite exciting, to be honest”.
Auckland Beekeepers Club swarm coordinator Bryan Lang said spring, between September and December, is the peak period for bee swarming in Auckland.
Lang said several buildings in Auckland’s central business district have rooftop hives operated by beekeeping company Bees Up Top.
“An existing hive gets too full, and there’s no room for the queen to lay,” Lang said, Newstalk ZB has quoted.
The existing queen then leaves the hive with a large part of the colony to find a new home. A new queen subsequently emerges and takes over the original hive, Lang explained, as reported by Newstalk ZB.
Despite the large number of insects, Lang said bee swarms are generally not dangerous because the bees are focused on finding a new location rather than protecting a hive.
“They’re just solely concerned with finding that new home,” Lang said.
“The only way they would sting you is if you put your hand on one or stood on one,” as quoted by Newstalk ZB.
A member of the Auckland Beekeepers Club was on his way to collect the swarm and move it to another location.
“He’ll scoop them into a box. And as long as the queen has gone into that box, the rest of the bees will follow in,” as quoted by Newstalk ZB.