LONDON, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- A hive of 60,000 bees was found on Saturday in the rafters of a hospital in Cambridge in eastern England.

Expert beekeepers were called in to remove the hive which was causing honey to ooze through gaps in the brickwork.

The Tree Bee society in Ormskirk, Lancashire, removed the bees.

The bees were found in the hospital's Beechcroft building. It is a staff building with no patients present.

Workers from the society said they had been left "soaked" in honey while removing the vast hive which they said may have been there for years.

Tree Bee director Abigail Reade said, "It was a bit of surprise for the staff to know they were working so close to such a large colony."

"We estimate when we see a colony of this size it contains between 50,000 and 60,000 bees," Reade said. "(The bees) will now live very happily in our field at our base in Lancashire."