A 70-year-old man in the central Anatolian province of Eskişehir almost burnt his house down while trying to chase off bees from his terrace. According to an Anadolu Agency (AA) report, Selettin Keleş saw a beehive on the terrace of his two-story house. He told AA that he had seen on a television program how beekeepers chased away bees by smoking them out.

However, the fire got out of control and the fire department had to be called in when the wood stored on the terrace started to burn. Keleş said the people on the television made it seem easy. "I was supposed to smoke the bees out. However, the bees smoked me instead," he said. He thanked the police and the fireman for their speedy arrival.

"If it had been the Turkey of old, I would have been burnt," he added. Still, he said the damage to his house was substantial and, funnily enough, the bees were still there.