We’ve all heard the phrase that something was ‘the stuff of nightmares’, and what happened to this man really was.

The fire service were then called to help, including off-duty fireman Jesse Johnson who works as a beekeeper in his spare time.

Johnson arrived at the store all geared up to safely remove the bees using a hive kit and lemongrass oil. Surprisingly, there was only one report of someone begin stung.

Las Cruces Fire Department were at the scene for almost two hours while they blocked off the nearby area to ensure the safety of other shoppers.

The fire department has since recalled the ordeal on its Facebook page, where it explained the driver of the car actually began to drive off before noticing the large swarm in the back of his car.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday, March 28, Las Cruces firefighters were dispatched to the report of swarm of bees that took temporary residency in a car that had been parked with a window down at the Albertson’s grocery store, 1285 El Paseo Rd. Firefighters arrived to find a swarm of bees inside the vehicle.

Firefighters learned the owner of the car returned from shopping, placed groceries in his vehicle and started to drive off before noticing the swarm in the backseat.

It continued, ‘After blocking off the immediate area to ensure the safety of nearby shoppers, Las Cruces firefighters called upon the services of off-duty firefighter Jesse Johnson who, in his spare time, is a beekeeper. Johnson arrived with the proper tools for the trade – a hive kit, lemongrass oil, gloves and proper attire – and was successful in removing the bees from the car and relocating them to a more suitable location.’

The post concluded that the fire service doesn’t typically remove bee swarms but, due to Sunday’s swarm being so large and in a ‘relatively high-traffic area’, they determined the best option was to have the bees removed.

It currently remains unclear how and why the large swarm targeted the man’s car and where they came from.