A parking lot in the New Springville section of Staten Island went to the bees this afternoon, as thousands of the insects swarmed from a makeshift hive built on a shopping cart.

"Roll up your windows now," renowned borough beekeeper Chester (Chet) Crowl Jr. barked to passing cars as they entered the Kmart Shopping Plaza at 2865 Richmond Ave. Crowl was summoned when the honeybee hive was discovered outside the Time Warner Cable and Blinds To Go stores.

Crowl produced a giant vacuum and, wearing a protective suit, sucked up what he estimated could be as many as 40,000 bees. The beekeeper said he will relocate the hive to his apiary upstate, where the colony will produce honey.

Employees who work in the shopping center said they hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary until around noon today, when the swarm was discovered on a blue cart. Crowl speculated that the bees' original hive got too crowded and they left this morning, building a makeshift home wherever the queen landed -- in this case a shopping cart.