Looking for a honey...comb!

11:17am Friday 4th July 2008

TERRIFIED customers ran away from a Bromsgrove hairdressers after a swarm of bees blocked the entrance.

The drama started just before 1pm last Friday at Snipz hairdressers along the Worcester Road when thousands of bees descended, blocking out the light from the front window. Staff called Bromsgrove District Council, but to no avail.

Manager, Gill Taylor said: "It was scary. We didn't know what to do. We couldn't get out. One customer arrived and we talked to her on her mobile, and one lady ran away.

She said: "We managed to get in touch with the Bee Keepers Association, which finally put us in touch with a local man, Alex Bignall. He took the bees away and we are very grateful to him."

Mr Bignall, a retired clinical biochemist, said: "This is the time bees swarm. They are docile as long as they are not too long finding a new home."

He arrived, kitted out in his protective suit, and directed the queen bee into a cardboard box and left her workers and drones to follow. Then he transported the box to his own hives on the outskirts of town.

He added: "Only experienced people should do what I did. If the bees had stayed where they were for a while and become hungry, it could have been a different story, and you must be properly protected."