LOCALS have been left stunned after an entire swarm of bees took over a pedestrian crossing, choosing a traffic light as the site of their impromptu hive.
James West had been doing maintenance around Rugby, Warwickshire on Friday when he stumbled upon the unique sight.
The 30-year-old spotted a mass of hundreds of bees nesting on a traffic light, putting off anyone from getting close to press the button.
Despite the bees’ awkward choice of rest stop, council worker James put out a considerate plea to leave the honey-makers alone.
An image shows the pedestrian crossing on a sunny day, with the traffic light’s box almost completely hidden by the huge swarm of black and yellow jacketed bumblebees.
Further footage shows the bees vibrating aas they rest on the button -with some almost completely covering the red man on the box whilst others appear to fly around in protection of their queen.
James posted a warning to social media later that evening, pleading to the community to protect the declining species.
He wrote in the post: “If anyone sees this in town, they are bees. Not wasps.
“Looking for a new home. Don’t bother them. They’re resting and will move on when rested.”
The plea proved to be successful, gaining 685 lies and 122 comments from locals who were quick to crack a slew of bee-related puns.
One person wrote: “Don’t worry, bee happy!”
Another joked: “Have they been evicted by the council? Save the bees.”
A third commented: “Kinda cute, kinda sad, kinda scary.”
A fourth said: “A choice between being stung by bees defending their home or being hit by a car.”
A fifth quipped: “Honey, I can’t get home.”
Speaking to James today, he said: “I work for the council doing ground maintenance – grass cutting, flower planting – across Rugby.
“At the moment with No Mow May, we had not been cutting large areas for this reason – to help with the declining numbers in bees and butterflies.
“It’s also educating people between a wasp and a bee. No Mow May is when a lot of the wild flowers start budding and [it] helps when bees go from one flower or something to the next, to help them glow.”
Bees are sadly in decline in the global ecosystem and are at severe risk of being completely eradicated within the UK.
Despite there being over 20,000 types of bees around the world, they are dying as a result of pesticides, drought, habitat destruction and more.
Humans can help to save the bees by avoiding the use of pesticides in gardens, providing bee-friendly habitats, and providing a spoonful of sugar water for a dying bee.
