A swarm of bees

So there we are, in the office, ploughing our furrows in the quiet professional way that we IT folk generally do, when suddenly we become aware that the humming noise coming from the window is not the same humming noise we tolerate most of the time (that one comes from the air conditioning machine that's parked just outside). Then there is a squeak of excitement. Everyone looks up. Someone yells, "Close the windows!"

A swarm of honey bees has descended upon us. Our office window looks out onto a quad. (It's not a pretty quad in the classical sense; it's more like a mini-industrial landscape.) The bees, presumably, have broken off from the main colony and are swarming round the quad because they've found a place to make a new home.

There are thousands of bees. (OK, that's not a surprise - it is a swarm, after all. Forgive me; it's just that this is the most impressive grouping of bees I've ever seen first hand.) They swarm around. We have stopped ploughing, and we watch. One bee got into the office before we closed the windows. The others are outside, and we watch them. The windows are old, but they keep the bees out. It's amazing to see the dancing energy of so many bees at such close quarters.

After about forty minutes, the swarming dies down. From the other side of the quad, it is clear where they've gone - they have settled on the wall just below our window, giving the impression of a fine gently-buzzing beard beneath our window sill (if I could blip two photos in one day, the beard would be my second).

If I sound unduly excited about this, it's because I'm still buzzing.

Postscript: send more bees...