A swarm of bees took up residence on the patio of Phoenix Pharmacy, and became a downtown attraction.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Downtown Knoxville was buzzing a little more than usual for a Thursday afternoon.

The folks at Phoenix Pharmacy on Gay Street were surprised when some unexpected guests showed up outside the business.

A swarm of bees was making a new home right out front, where they have a counter and stools on a small patio. The bees were working on a hive underneath the stone counter and were busily buzzing about their business.

A city worker was working to find a beekeeper to come down and safely move the hive and its residents. He said its not that unusual for a colony of bees to be living downtown, but they are usually in trees. This is the first time he was aware of that they had actually taken up residence on a business patio on Gay Street.

The swarm was attracting its own swarm of onlookers, with people stopping to take photos and videos of the unusual site.

But just as quickly as they appeared, they left! You can see video of the moment below where the bees buzzed up, then off down the street. Guess the queen decided that Gay Street was a little too busy for her new home! We hope they found a safe and quiet place to build their new hive.