You’ve hive-ing a laugh – 106 attacked by honey bees
A Lancashire man was almost stung in more sense than one after a swarm of bees nearly destroyed his car worth £2,000.
81-year-old Alf James took his 11 year old Peugeot 106 into his local Bosch Car Service garage hoping for a relatively pain-free MOT, only to learn that bees had deemed two of his vehicle’s cylinder head ports ideal places for their honeycomb.
“I thought the garage was playing a trick on me, I thought it was a joke,” said Mr James.
“My garden is a haven for bees, we were even on BBC Radio Lancashire a few years ago reporting on the huge problem we have, it’s a real hassle for us in the summer months.
“Never in my years did I think that the bees would make my car their home!”
It was first too for Neil Wright, manager of G & N Auto Co Ltd in Haslingden, who said: “In nearly 25 years of working in this business, I have never seen anything like this!
“The car was misfiring and running badly.”
Rock solid honey comb
Although Mr James admitted the car felt as if it was deteriorating, the real problem was only revealed when it failed an emissions test.
Mr Wright explained: “When we started to investigate, there were no bees present in the car so we certainly weren’t expecting to find bees honeycomb.
“It was amazing that the car was still running, as the rock solid honey comb was completely blocking two of the four cylinder head inlet ports.
“Upon further investigation it was found that the bees must have flown into the garage, then under the car’s bonnet, through a gap in the air filter housing, along the air inlet pipe, past the throttle valve, into the inlet manifold and then started to build their nest in the cylinder head inlet port! It’s quite extraordinary.”
Mr James’ bee incident comes after a squirrel used one man’s Astra for nut storage [full story].
Neil added that there was little Alf could have done to avoid the bee invasion.
“This sort of circumstance is hard to prevent especially if you live in a rural area,” he said.
“Checking your car and getting it serviced regularly will significantly reduce the chances of damage becoming more serious.
“If you notice a lack of performance, misfires or a change in the way your car runs, make sure you get your car diagnosed and repaired as soon as possible.”
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