Bee swarm takes over Tooele family's car

TOOELE — When Matt Key's son came home from school Monday afternoon, he had some interesting news: A swarm of bees had decided to take up residence on the family car.

Key didn't quite believe his son at first, but eventually the boy persuaded Key to come outside, where indeed there were hundreds if not thousands of bees swarming on and around the yellow Chevy Cobalt.

"A cloud of bees was swarming all over the place," Key said.

School had just let out, and Key kept the kids from getting too close to the vehicle or killing any of the bees for fear that they'd decide to attack someone.

Fortunately, a city inspector quickly arrived to evaluate the situation and help out.

"I don't know how he found out about it, but a bee keeper showed up in a Tooele City vehicle," he said.

Key also began snapping pictures and videos, which he submitted to ksl.com through the iWitness phone app.

According to Key, the inspector said that a queen had decided to land on the vehicle, and as a result, the swarm followed her there and began moving in. He said the inspector carefully removed the queen.

"Once he got the queen into the portable hive that he brought with him, then he set it down next to the Cobalt," Key said. "So they all started migrating from the car into that thing."

Key said the inspector was quite surprised, saying it was very rare for bees to behave like this. Usually they'll take to a tree or something like it.

Eventually, the whole thing became quite entertaining and educational, with the inspector teaching about bees and their behavior.

"He was really quite the guy, teaching everybody what was going on," Key said.

In about three hours, the bees had mostly migrated into the portable hive and were removed.

Photos and video courtesy of Matt Key.

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