Thousands of bees descend on cricket match forcing play to be suspended

By Thomas Schlachter, CNN

(CNN) — In the world of sport, there are many reasons for games to be suspended or postponed.

Fans are used to seeing games stopped for downfalls of rain, heavy snow, injuries or even, as seen in recent days, smoke from wildfires.

But have you ever heard of bees stopping play?

At a cricket festival in Ireland, a game had to be suspended as a swarm of bees descended onto the pitch forcing everyone in the vicinity to hide from the buzzy mob.

Players and umpires were pictured lying on the ground at the Mardyke in Cork, trying to avoid the 20,000 bees making themselves familiar with their new surroundings.

The bees felt so at home that they even started to make a hive near the pavilion, where lots of the spectators were sat watching.

The live stream showing the event declared “bees stop play” as the presence of the bees near the clubhouse meant the game had to be suspended for 112 minutes before it could be restarted.

Mauro Dias, who works for local bee rescue service Buzz of Nature, was then called into action to save the day.

The local beekeeper arrived at the cricket ground and found the queen bee – rescuing the cricket fans, players, and umpires from the swarm.

As a result of the delay, the length of the game between the Northern Knights and the Munster Reds had to be reduced.

The Knights ended up winning the game by seven wickets, overcoming their opponents and the 20,000-strong swarm along the way.

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