MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.—Police cleared the Manhattan Beach pier Saturday afternoon after a swarm of bees arrived.

The bees were discovered just before 4 p.m. on June 1, according to NBC4.

A woman working at the Manhattan Beach police front desk confirmed the swarm.

She said officers were waiting for the bees to leave on their own.

Honey bees often swarm in late spring or early summer when a new queen is made in a colony and her mother leaves that colony with a large group of worker bees to find a new hive, according to Tim Gibb of the Purdue University Department of Entomology.

They remain at the swarm site a few hours to a few days while scouting bees search for a new nest site, Gibb said. Once it is found, the bee cluster breaks up and flies to it.

Bees at this stage of life are much less likely to sting because they do not have a hive to defend, he said.