Cambridge road sign becomes home to bee swarm

Bees set up home on a sign for housing developments

A large colony of bees took a sign post for a housing development to heart - and set up home on it.

The swarm landed on the sign pointing towards Abode and other new developments in Cambridge.

Julian Fuller saw them in a tree near the University Botanic Garden on Tuesday, but they then moved to the nearby bright yellow road signs.

The Cambridgeshire Beekeepers' Association (CBA) said bees swarm when they outgrow their hive.

Library assistant Mr Fuller filmed and photographed the thousands of bees as they swarmed around the signs.

"It made me a little nervous," he said. "I didn't stick around for too long."

The swarm was initially spotted on a tree on Trumpington Road in Cambridge.

He posted his photographs on Instagram, eliciting a number of comments including, "I thought the sign had a beard" and "anyone missing a bathmat?"

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Susan Wilkie, of the CBA, said: "When the hive gets too crowded, the bees create a new queen in a queen cell," she said.

"Once the queen cell has been sealed, about half the colony takes off with the old queen to find a new home."

The bees have since moved on but it is not known where they have gone.