Bees swarm downtown Fredericton tree

A block of downtown Fredericton was all abuzz on Thursdayafternoon after alarge swarm of bees took over the branches of a small tree in front of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Richard Amesof Maritime Bee in Mactaquacwas called by city and hotel officials after a hive of bees relocated to a tree on Queen Street.

He said the hive located on the hotel's rooftop garden had grown so big that it developed a new queen.

Ames said that when the queen left, half the hive followed it.

"The swarm is basically a cluster. It's a ball of bees just right around that queen. They're all gorged with honey. They all fill up with honey before they leave the hive, so they're very docile," said Ames.

"There was a pretty good swarm up in the treeand I just picked it up, put them in a little boxand I'm going to take them back to Mactaquac and we're going to start a new hive."