It appears bees love the library — or at least they want to live there.

Hundreds of bees blocked the entrance to the A.C. Hunter Library, located inside the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John’s, as they swarmed the outside steps. Yellow caution tape blocked the stairs Friday morning.

A sign out front says “Bees! Use north entrance or south entrance.”

The bees seem to be building a hive, says regional librarian Emma Craig, after talking to experts.

“This is very special and very exciting,” said Craig, who had an upbeat attitude about the new patrons.

The library discovered the buzzing bugs Friday morning and Craig hopes to get the bees re-homed by the end of the day.

“People are interested because when do we ever get a chance to see bees when they’re not like in a hive?” said Craig.

“So it’s really cool and I think it’s a fun learning experience for people.”

Earlier that afternoon a person in a beekeeper suit was carrying a box that had some of the bees inside, before loading it up into a vehicle and leaving. Still, there were dozens of bees who remained behind, flying about the main entrance.

Bees be hive hunting

Craig says this is the second bee-invasion this year, but the first time they’ve been so close to an entrance.

It seems bees are house hunting lately. Earlier this week, the Kent store in St. John’s posted about a swarm of bees in their garden centre, which they had to re-home.

“After buzzing through and giving our flowers some extra pollination, they decided they liked the space so much that they wanted to stick around!” said a Facebook post from Kent Building Supplies.

Despite the buzzy blockage, Craig had no stinging words for the latest library-lovers.

“To me, bees are gentle animals,” she said.

“I know that they have those stingers and that makes people nervous, but I like to always think of the attitude that as long as you give them the space they need, they’re not going to cause any issues for you.”

Craig said the library will keep people informed about the bees on their social media channels.

Source: CBC Newfoundland & Labrador