Bees in my bonnet almost wrote off my car

A family of bees almost destroyed a man’s £2,000 car after deciding it was a suitable place to make their honeycomb.
 
When Alf James, 81, took his 11-year-old Peugeot 106 into his local Bosch Car Service garage in Haslingden, Lancashire, he was shocked at what he was told. When mechanics looked at Mr. James’s car to try and find out why the car would not pass its MOT, they were shocked to discover that two of the vehicle’s cylinder head ports were completely blocked with honeycomb.
 
“I thought the garage was playing a trick on me, I thought it was a joke”, said Mr. James, a retired environmental technician from Park Avenue, Haslingden.
 
“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!”
 
Neil Wright, the manager of Bosch Car Service garage, G & N Auto Co Ltd, said: “In nearly 25 years of working in this business, I have never seen anything like this! The car was misfiring and running badly.”
 
Mr James had been using his car once or twice a week, which had been running a little bit worse each time he used it; he eventually parked it up in his garage. The problem only became apparent to him when he took his car for an MOT and it failed the emissions test.
 
“The other garage had been unable to diagnose the problem, so it was brought to us for our expert opinion,” continued Neil. “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.
 
“This sort of circumstance is hard to prevent especially if you live in a rural area. 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.” said Neil.