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A car was pursued by a loyal 20,000-strong swarm of bees for two days after their queen got trapped in the boot.
The disgruntled swarm chased the 4x4 through Haverfordwest, west Wales, and attached themselves to the rear of the car where they remained for over 48 hours.
Carol Howarth, a 65-year-old grandmother, said she “had never seen anything like it” when thousands of the insects flew at the back of her silver Mitsubishi Outlander.
Five beekeepers, park wardens and passers spent hours trying to get the bees into a cardboard box in which they could be transported safely away.
However shortly after this was achieved, the wind blew off the lid of the box and the queen became lodged in the car’s rear compartment once again.
The owner drove away unaware before the swarm returned to the car once more in an attempt to rescue their trapped matriarch.
Roger Burns, from Pembrokeshire Beekeepers Association, told the Milford Mercury : “We think the queen had been attracted to something in the car, perhaps something sweet, and had got into a gap on the boot’s wiper blade or perhaps the hinge.
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Justin Hofman / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Curious Encounter - Shortlisted Cristobal Serrano, Spain. Any close encounter with an animal in the vast wilderness of Antarctica happens by chance, so Cristobal was thrilled by this spontaneous meeting with a crabeater seal off of Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These curious creatures are protected and, with few predators, thrive.
Cristobal Serrano / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Bond of brothers - Winner David Lloyd, New Zealand / UK. These two adult males, probably brothers, greeted and rubbed faces for 30 seconds before settling down. Most people never have the opportunity to witness such animal sentience, and David was honoured to have experienced and captured such a moment.The picture was taken in Ndutu, Serengeti, Tanzania.
David Lloyd / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Fox meets fox - Highly Commended Matthew Maran, UK. Matthew has been photographing foxes close to his home in north London for over a year and ever since spotting this street art had dreamt of capturing this image. After countless hours and many failed attempts his persistence paid off.
Matthew Maran / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Three Kings - Highly Commended Wim Van Den Heever, South Africa. Wim came across these king penguins on a beach in the Falkland Islands just as the sun was rising. They were caught up in a fascinating mating behaviour –the two males were constantly moving around the female using their flippers to fend the other off.
Wim Van Den Heever / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year One toy, three dogs - Highly Commended Bence Mate, Hungary. While adult African wild dogs are merciless killers, their pups are extremely cute and play all day long. Bence photographed these brothers in Mkuze, South Africa –they all wanted to play with the leg of an impala and were trying to drag it in three different directions!
Bence Mate / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Clam Close-up - Shortlisted David Barrio, Spain. This macro-shot of an iridescent clam was taken in the Southern Red Sea, Marsa Alam, Egypt. These clams spend their lives embedded amongst stony corals, where they nest and grow. It took David some time to approach the clam, fearing it would sense his movements and snap shut!
David Barrio / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year The Orphaned Beaver - Shortlisted Suzi Eszterhas, United States. A one-month-old orphaned North American beaver kit is held by a caretaker at the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, Washington. Luckily it was paired with a female beaver who took on the role of mother and they were later released into the wild.
Suzi Eszterhas / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Ice and Water - Shortlisted Audun Lie Dahl, Norway. The Bråsvellbreen glacier moves southwards from one of the ice caps covering the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. Where it meets the sea, the glacier wall is so high that only the waterfalls are visible, so Audun used a drone to capture this unique perspective
Audun Lie Dahl / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Teenager - Shortlisted Franco Banfi, Switzerland. Franco was free diving off Dominica in the Caribbean Sea when he witnessed this young male sperm whale trying to copulate with a female. Unfortunately for him her calf was always in the way and the frisky male had to continually chase off the troublesome calf.
Franco Banfi / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Resting Mountain Gorilla - Shortlisted David Lloyd. The baby gorilla clung to its mother whilst keeping a curious eye on David. He had been trekking in South Bwindi, Uganda, whenhe came across the whole family. Following them, they then stopped in a small clearing to relax and groom each other.
David Lloyd / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Painted Waterfall - Shorltisted Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal, Spain. When the sun beams through a hole in the rock at the foot of the La Foradada waterfall, Catalonia, Spain, it creates a beautiful pool of light. The rays appear to paint the spray of the waterfall and create a truly magical picture.
Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal / Natural History Museum
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Konstantin Shatenev / Natural History Museum
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Pedro Carrillo / Natural History Museum
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Tin Man Lee / Natural History Museum
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Anna Henly / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Sound Asleep - Shortlisted Tony Wu, USA. This adult humpback whale balanced in mid-water, headon and sound asleep was photographed in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga. The faint stream of bubbles, visible at the top, is coming from the whale’s two blowholes and was, in this instance, indicative of an extremely relaxed state.
Tony Wu / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year All That Remains - Shortlisted Phil Jones, UK. A male orca had beached itself about a week before Phil’s visit to Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands. Despite its huge size the shifting sands had almost covered the whole carcass and scavengers, such as this striated caracara, had started to move in.
Phil Jones / Natural History Museum
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Federico Veronesi / Natural History Museum
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Christian Vizl / Natural History Museum
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Franco Banfi / Natural History Museum
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Antonio Leiva Sanchez / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Under the Snow - Shortlisted Audren Morel, France. Unafraid of the snowy blizzard, this squirrel came to visit Audren as he was taking photographs of birds in the small Jura village of Les Fourgs, France. Impressed by the squirrel’s endurance, he made it the subject of the shoot.
Audren Morel / Natural History Museum
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Rob Blanken / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Family Portrait - Shortlisted Connor Stefanison, Canada. A great grey owl and her chicks sit in their nest in the broken top of a Douglas fir tree in Kamloops, Canada. They looked towards Connor only twice as he watched them during the nesting season from a tree hide 50 feet (15 metres) up.
Connor Stefanison / Natural History Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year A dog jumps to catch a disc during a dog frisbee competition in Poznan
via REUTERS
“I left the cardboard box on the roof while we waited for the last few hundred bees to leave the boot but then a gust of wind blew it off and the queen fled back to the boot again.
“I have been beekeeping for 30 years and I have never seen a swarm do that. It is natural for them to follow the queen but it is a strange thing to see and quite surprising to have a car followed for two days. It was quite amusing.”
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