What started as a quiet beach day in the Italian town of Cattolica suddenly turned into a remarkable natural spectacle on Sunday. Thousands of bees took over a parasol and sun loungers in just a few minutes, close to the waterline. Surprised tourists fled while a beekeeper had to rush to the scene to safely remove the swarm.
Journalist at HLN
Source: Rimini today, Il fatto quotidiano, Belga
Chaos broke out when the swarm suddenly began to circle low above sunbeds on the beach of the popular seaside resort on the Adriatic coast, in the province of Rimini.
“You could immediately see that the queen bee had chosen that parasol,” a beachgoer told local Italian media. “Shortly afterwards, bees flew in from everywhere and also settled on the lounger.”
In just a few minutes, the parasol and several loungers were completely covered in bees. Tourists recoiled in horror while others took out their mobile phones to film the striking scene.
Beekeeper removes swarm safely
Because the bees continued to gather around the parasol and sun loungers, a beekeeper was finally called in. According to witnesses, he first tried to locate the queen bee. Once he found her, he placed her in a special hive together with part of the swarm. The rest of the bees followed almost immediately.
Not much later, the parasol and sunbeds were free again and despite the brief panic, the striking scene ended well: no one was stung.
Also incident in Riccione
Moreover, it is not the first time that something like this has happened on the Adriatic coast. A few days ago, a similar incident occurred on a beach in Riccione, a few kilometers from Cattolica.
Italian experts suspect that the exceptionally high temperatures for this time of year play a role. The heat makes bees, wasps and other insects more active and they often seek out places where many people are present.