You cannot bee serious! Swarm of bees halts Carlos Alcaraz’s match at Indian Wells

World No 2 ducks for cover as insects swarm the court – forcing the umpire to suspend play due to ‘bee invasion’

“Bees stop play” is not an announcement usually heard by the world’s top tennis players.
But Carlos Alcaraz had to make a beeline for the exit on Thursday after thousands of the insects swarmed centre court during his Indian Wells quarter-final.
The world No 2 was about to serve at 1-1 in the first set against Alexander Zverev when bees started circling around the court.
After making futile attempts to swat away the insects with his racket, Alcaraz ran to the locker room for cover.
A pause for… bees?! 🐝Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev’s quarter-final match has been SUSPENDED due to a swarm of bees 🤯 pic.twitter.com/w8rALgPYU8
It forced a nearly-two-hour disruption during which bemused umpire Mohamed Lahyani informed the crowd “we are having problems with bees” before confirming that play could not continue as the bees had taken over the court.
Fans burst out laughing when Mr Lahyani later said “play suspended due to bee invasion”.
Thousands of bees could also be seen under one of the aerial cameras over the main court, while others smacked into the lenses of the TV cameras.
Local beekeeper Lance Davis was called upon to get the insects off the court. 
He used a vacuum to remove the bees from the spider camera after arriving without any protective clothing.
When the players returned, the chair umpire told them there were still some bees flying around and Zverev joked that he was fine to play on his side of the court.
The beekeeper was summoned back to the court with a spray bottle and was cheered wildly by the crowd. 
Mr Davis, of Killer Bee Live Removal, received a hero’s welcome:
It’s time to BEE the main character… 😎 Welcome, legend, icon, Lance Davis 🫡🐝@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/sSyRC9Q0Qh
He could be seen clearing the bees from the spider camera and spraying the electronic scoreboard.
He posed for selfies with fans, causing Alcaraz and Zverev to laugh as they watched him wander the seats spraying for bees. Mr Davis also doused the walls around the court.
The match resumed after a delay of 1hr 48mins and Alcaraz went on to win it 6-3, 6-1.
Tournament owner and billionaire Larry Ellison and former Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates were watching the match from Mr Ellison’s box.