Hundreds of bees descended on a Diwali sweets stall in Fatehabad and stung employees. The incident caused heavy losses and renewed concerns over uncovered festive food stalls.Hundreds of bees swarm a Diwali sweets stall outside a shop in FatehabadA swarm of hundreds of bees descended on a Diwali sweets stall in Haryana's Fatehabad, leaving the shopkeeper with losses of around Rs 1 lakh and injuring two to three employees.
The bees suddenly gathered over the sweets, rendering a large quantity of them unfit for sale and disrupting the shop's festive business.The incident took place outside Lovely Sweets near Maharaja Agrasen Chowk in Fatehabad city, where the shop had put up a special stall to sell sweets prepared for Diwali.Shop owner Rinku said he had prepared sweets for the festive occasion and set up the stall at Agrasen Chowk. However, the celebration-time business took an unexpected turn when a swarm of bees suddenly arrived and settled on the sweets.With hundreds of bees covering the food items, a substantial quantity of sweets was spoiled.
Rinku estimated his losses at around Rs 1 lakh. He also said two to three employees sustained injuries after being stung by the bees.
Rinku suspected that some people involved in beekeeping might have opened their bee boxes and released the insects, leading to the incident. However, he did not provide any concrete evidence to support the suspicion.The incident also raised concerns over the risks of selling food items in the open, particularly during the festive season when temporary stalls see increased business.
Meanwhile, Fatehabad Food Safety Officer Ravi Rathi said shopkeepers had been repeatedly made aware of the need to avoid selling sweets in the open.He said the department had conducted awareness campaigns earlier and would organise more such drives in the coming days. Rathi urged shopkeepers to keep sweets covered and follow food safety regulations to prevent contamination.- Ends