Bee swarm descends on Sydney CBD motorbike

“Un-BEE-lieveable!” “Quite the BUZZ!” “A HIVE of activity!”

The puns and the cameras were buzzing over a bike covered in bees in Sydney’s CBD this afternoon.

Fittingly, it was beekeeping student Nick who first spotted the swarm.

He grabbed his phone and called Vicky Brown, an apiarist at Urban Beehives in Matraville. She told him to follow the trail and find out where they ended up.

While he did that, she jumped in her car and headed to the city.

Nick spotted the bees swarming over a motorbike. Undeterred, he saw the photo opportunity and took a picture.

When Vicky arrived, she got to work, directing the buzzing bees into her hive and trying to isolate the queen.

9NEWS asked if she’d seen anything like this before.

“Yes it’s swarming season,” she said, but “not usually in the city and not usually on a motorbike”.

In the middle of the drama, someone phoned the fire brigade. They arrived with sirens blasting, but there wasn’t much they could do except stand around and watch Vicky work.

Vicky explained she wasn’t worried about being stung because the bees weren’t a threat.

“No – they don't have a home so they're actually quite scared and vulnerable,” she said.

“When bees don’t have a home they're less defensive.”

She added that if anyone happens to spot a swarm of bees during swarming season, they shouldn’t call a pest controller, but rather a beekeeper.

Organisations like Urban Beehives at Matraville keep multiple Beehives in apiaries all over Sydney – inside hotels and other commercial premises – where they make local honey.

A sweet end to a sticky problem.