Parked vehicles on Front Street were covered by thousands of bees yesterday as a swarm descended on Hamilton for the second time this week.On Tuesday, a swarm of more than 4,000 bees was found on Bermudiana Road near the intersection with Gorham Road, only a few hundred meters away.While the swarms caused concern from some members of the public, who ran past the swarm in an attempt to avoid being stung, the Island’s beekeepers said it is a good sign for the insects, which have dwindled in numbers in the past few years.Yesterday afternoon, a swarm of more than 10,000 bees landed on Front Street opposite the HSBC building, covering motorcycles and cars.Beekeepers worked to capture the queen, placing her in a hive to draw the others inside a process slowed by repeated gusts of winds sending the bees back into flight.Beekeeper Quincy Burgess explained that swarms often form this time of year as the bee population grows.“In the spring, with the increase in pollination, queens begin to lay thousands of eggs and producing new queens,” Mr Burgess explained.“When a new queen is hatched, it leaves to start a new hive, bringing about half of the old hive in a swarm. The other half remains in the other location.”According to another beekeeper, more than 20 swarms have been reported already this spring, suggesting the population may be on the rebound.“They said it was the mite, but the strong will always survive,” he said.In October, veteran beekeeper Randolph Furbert said that Bermuda’s bee population had halved, describing the decline as a national crisis.The significant decline has been attributed to an invasive blood-sucking mite called Varroa, which has caused the death of thousands of hives worldwide, combined with a dry spring and summer, and infestations and Hurricane Igor. At that time, Mr Furbert said: “We’ve lost a good bit of our stocks and it’s affecting crops. Bees pollinate crops, and if you have no bees, there’s no honey and no food.”The local decline is part of an international phenomenon affecting wild and domestic bee populations, with factors ranging from mites like Varroa, environmental stresses and pesticide use being blamed for the deaths of millions of bee colonies.Hives in North America, Europe and Asia have also experienced Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon in which worker bees from a hive or colony abruptly disappear.