A swarm of bees put a Ramsey neighborhood on lockdown Saturday afternoon.

Neighbors tell News 12 thousands of bees from a nearby beekeeper's hives on Marist Avenue and Elizabeth Avenue were accidentally disturbed.

Neighbors say the couple who owns the bees have been beekeeper's for years and are still being treated in the hospital.

Police and the New Jersey Beekeepers Association responded to the swarm.

"Literally hundreds of bees just swarming around and the police officers were here," says neighbor Rick York. "They were getting stung."

The police chief says he was stung multiple times and the swarm dispersed throughout several blocks.

The Beekeepers Association says the swarm's behavior is uncharacteristically rare for managed bee colonies. They say two experienced beekeepers removed the hives to another location

The president of the Beekeepers Association says one hive may have reacted defensively as the beekeeper was collecting frames from another. She says in her 25 years in New Jersey, she's never seen anything like this.

She says they plan to check on the hive in a few days to determine if it needs to be re-queened.