THOUSANDS of bees swarmed outside Tavistock's police station on Tuesday, intent on making it their new home, writes Alan Gregory.
Local bee keeper Henry Morris was rushed to the scene to collect as many as 10,000 of the little creatures, blocking the main door.
He swept some of them up into a basket, encouraging the rest to follow, before putting the lid on and taking them back to his apiary.
Mr Morris insisted the task wasn't as dangerous as it looked to the small band of interested on-lookers.
'I picked up a few stings,' he said. 'But a swarm is, 99 times out of a 100, in a good temper.'
Mr Morris said the bees filled up on honey before they left because they didn't know when they would next eat, so they were replete and dozy.
'So long as you leave them alone they are quite happy,' he said.
'The queen flew here with the swarm looking for somewhere to settle. They leave the colony without any idea of where they're going to live,' said Mr Morris.
He thought they liked the police station because it was a warm, sunny spot.
'The other year it was the church — with a funeral going on,' he said.
Henry Morris is secretary of the Tavistock and District Bee Keepers' Association. He can be contacted on 01822 613727.