A SWARM of bees have been removed from outside a supermarket in Worcester.

A beekeeper removed between 10,000 to 15,000 bees from a bush outside Tesco in Warndon on Wednesday, May 20.

The buzzing surprise saw customers for the store temporarily diverted through a different door.

Branch Secretary of Worcester Beekeepers, Victoria Jones, said: “They are just dividing the colony and finding a new home which is what they do naturally. It would have been a stop off point before they moved on. Clearly the scout bee wasn’t very good at choosing a new place because they found the bush outside the store.

“It would have been difficult for the beekeeper to remove the swarm and get the bees into a box before taking them to their new hive.

She said the bees had probably only arrived at the supermarket a day before they were removed.

Ms Jones said the bees are all safe and have been placed in a beehive and added: “They are now in a beehive and hopefully they will stop there. But sometimes they move on and find somewhere else.

“Either the bees were in a tree, up someone’s chimney or in a hive and then they found somewhere else.”

A customer who was at the supermarket in Mill Wood Drive posted on Warndon Villages Community Group after their shopping trip.

The customer said the entrance to Tesco was altered so people had to enter via the left side entrance and an announcement made for customers to queue down aisle 15 for check outs.

Ms Jones, who has been a member of Worcester Beekeepers for 11 years, said: “I was interested in keeping bees and went down to the Worcester Flower Show and got talking to an old couple running a bee stall. They encouraged me to get involved so I went on a bee keeping course.” The bee season runs from the end of April until August.