SECURITY guards at a music festival were grasping at straws when hundreds of bees swarmed near the main stage.

But fortunately a group of

festival-goers knew exactly what to do.

Beekeepers Kelly and Tim McDonagh were attending Love Supreme jazz festival in Glynde.

While the couple live in Upper Dicker with their eight-month old daughter Isla, they keep their hives and beekeeper outfits at Tim’s parents house, in Glynde, right next to the festival grounds.

Upon seeing the bees, Tim and his friend Callum Hislam, 29, also attending the festival, ran to change into the protective gear while security guards set up metal fencing around the confused swarm.

Kelly, who works as a clerk at Lewes Crown Court, said: “We were just watching the main stage, I think it was Jimmy Cliff playing at the time, and they suddenly swarmed right in front of us.

“The security guards were great and cornered off the area and we told them we were beekeepers and could just go and fetch our suits and move them to Tim’s parents house next door to avoid further hassle. To be honest I sat back with Isla and watched the guys do the job, but it’s great, we now have a new hive which is what we wanted, and security didn’t have to deal with the swarm.”

Kelly said fellow festival-goers seemed more fascinated by the sudden swarm than scared.

She said: “When bees swarm they actually tend to be a lot more docile so I don’t think anyone got stung, security acted really quickly.”

She said her husband described moving the bees to music played by Cinematic Orchestra, the headline act on the Sunday, as “epic”.

She said the organisers of the festival gave the couple two free tickets for their friends to join.

Brighton and Hove city councillor Robert Nemeth, who is also a dedicated beekeeper, said: “Why swarms land in such obscure places whilst searching for a home is certainly one of nature’s mysteries that we beekeepers find hard to explain.

“I picked up swarms from car bonnets, on the ground in the middle of a road and on the Eastern arm of Brighton Marina where there isn’t a flower in sight.

“It was wonderful that the bees at Love Supreme were rehomed so quickly without fuss though it should be pointed out that bees are at their friendliest when swarming which is contrary to popular belief.”