Glasgow city centre bar forced to close by huge bee swarm
- Published
Staff were forced to flee via the fire exit as the insects marked their territory at the front
A Glasgow city centre bar and restaurant was forced to close after a huge swarm of bees gathered and nested outside.
The insects arrived in a mass swarm at the 63rd+1st on Sunday morning and gradually settled on a railing outside.
Staff were forced to flee via the fire exit as the insects marked their territory at the front.
The Bothwell Street bar closed for just over a day before it reopened on Monday evening.
The bees gradually relocated to the external side of a nearby wheelie bin.
Staff were able to wheel the bin away from the entrance and barricade it from the public.
The bees eventually migrated to a bin
"Hundreds of them swarmed outside the entire front of the building," said duty manager Petya Petrova.
"I have no idea what happened, they just arrived randomly and settled onto the railing in about 10 minutes.
"We ended up having to close because it's obviously a safety risk, with it being so close to the entrance.
"We put up a sign to explain we had to close because of the bee colony on the terrace.
"But we still saw some people going up close to them and trying to touch the bees, which probably isn't a good idea."
The bees swarmed around the front terrace of the restaurant
The manager put a bin near the swarm and gradually they started moving over.
"Apparently they send scouts over to check out a new place to nest," she said.
"And then they all moved over, which meant we were able to move the bin away from the entrance and reopen for dinner on Monday night."
Ms Petrova said she spent days trying to find someone who would deal with the swarm.
The insects scouted out a new nest
"The council said they don't deal with bees," she said.
"And we phoned a pest control company and they arrived and took one look at the bees and said they couldn't help.
"We spoke to some beekeepers who couldn't send anyone immediately and said we needed to wait 24 to 48 hours in case it was just a swarm that would move on, and not a nest."
Beekeepers are due to remove the bees on Wednesday.
"I've got used to them while they've been there," said Ms Petrova.
"I'm a lot less scared of bees now. It's mental though, I've never seen anything like it."