Busy day as thousands of bees swarm harbour boat

A swarm of adventurous bees caused excitement in Monkstown, Co Cork, when they decided to make the most of the weather by spending the day on a boat.

Mechanic Michael Dunlea was working inside a boat moored at the village’s Cork Harbour marina when he was alerted by a loud buzzing noise outside.

“The bees were landing on a rope in a big swarm and coming down onto the side deck of the boat. There were hundreds of thousands of them,” said Mr Dunlea.

“I was a bit concerned. My father used to keep bees and I know enough to stay away from them. I didn’t want to disturb them. I’d never seen anything like it before. I decided retreat was the best form of action and to get off the boat as soon as possible.”

In the meantime, manager and co-owner of the marina James O’Brien, had received a call about the swarm and went to investigate. He pulled the boat further out into the water so they were not a threat to passersby.

He said there was a continuous stream of bees on and off the boat all day. “When 6pm came they flew off. They had a right day out,” he joked.