LEON Hines got more than he expected when he went shopping at the Cowley Retail Park, coming out of the shops to find his car covered in bees. Now he’s been criticised for killing them.

As reported in yesterday’s Oxford Mail in just a couple of hours his Audi A5 convertible  became home to hundreds of swarming honey bees with passers-by taking photos of the insects.

Mr Hines, from Rose Hill, who works in the emergency services, said: “I just thought ‘oh my God, what is this?’. I noticed people taking pictures, but I didn’t see the bees at first because they were at the back.

“I was with my wife Aimee who’s eight months pregnant and my three-year-old daughter Aaliyah so I didn’t want them to get stung.”

The 31-year-old said: “I got in the driver’s side where there were less bees and drove really slowly when I was near pedestrians.

“I went to the bypass and drove really fast to try and get rid of them, but they stuck to the car. I ended up having to go through the Tesco car wash twice to kill them.”

Phil Sharman, the vice chairman of Oxfordshire Beekeeper’s Association, criticised Mr Hines’s solution, adding: “He will have drowned their Queen, which is the centre of their universe.

“Honey bees swarm when they’re trying to find a location to stay. Before they left their old nest they will have gorged themselves on honey so they will have been totally docile.”

He urged the public that if they find a swarm to contact the association’s swarm liaison officer Maurice Leen on 01865 773626.

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