Bees swarm the field during spring training game

SURPRISE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Kansas City Royals fans were caught off guard on Tuesday as thousands of bees rushed Surprise Stadium during a spring training game.

"You could just see the swarm rising as it kind of covered into the nets," Jim Power said.

Jim Power and his three friends, all visiting from Kansas City, were sitting just above the dugout as they watched the swarm envelop a blue cooler.

"Ned Yost [Kansas City Royals manager] and the batter were getting ready to swing, they were moving away up the line and away from where the batter's box was," Cliff Harper said.

The scene was not unlike a Royals game exactly one year ago when bees gathered on a microphone at the Angel's Stadium in Tempe. Last year, the bees were exterminated, but Tuesday, their fate was much happier.

At the top of the third inning, fan Lowell Hutchinson, a retired beekeeper from Missouri, stepped forth to save the little guys.

"We thought he must be a bee whisperer because he took them in under his wing and put them in a bag and away they went," Frank Tolen said.

Royals manager Ned Yost, determined to keep the bees alive, applauded alongside fans as Lowell left the field.

Yost told reporters how important bees are to the environment, saying "They're not going to mess with you, just don't mess with them, kind of like the Royals. Don't mess with us and we won't mess with you."