Traffic Accident Releases 20 Million Bees

I got stung by a bee under my eye one time and my head swelled up so much that I looked like John Merrick, the Elephant Man, so this story scares the heck out of me.

According to EastIdahoNews.com,  a semi-truck crash near Howe, ID (nope, I don't know where that is either) this morning released approximately 20 million bees being transported to North Dakota to make honey.

Sheriff's reports say a Freightliner carrying 408 beehives swerved off the road, tipped over on its side, righted itself and kept going about 75 more yards before finally stopping. It's not clear what caused the initial swerving.


The beehives were completely destroyed, releasing millions of bees alongside the highway. The truck driver was uninjured but took off running down the highway.

KatieBee Honey owner Brian Wiggins said the bees are a complete loss.

“There is really no saving them when it is this bad,” Wiggins said. “All the bees that escaped will be dead by tomorrow, because they can’t live without their colonies.”

The remaining bees at the crash site were killed with foam by emergency responders who said they would be a hazard to driver, especially motorcyclists, if they weren't killed.

Millions of Bees Released When Tractor Trailer Crashes

I've come very close to driving off the road and killing innocent people in the past when a spider dropped
down from the headliner of my car onto the steering wheel, so imagine the reaction when drivers on a highway had to drive through millions of swarming bees.

It happened this morning in Newark, Delaware when the driver of a tractor trailer overturned his truck on a highway ramp, releasing his cargo of about 16-20 million honey bees. The driver and two passengers were taken to a nearby hospital with about 50 to 100 stings each and other people driving by on the highway were also stung.

Bee handlers were brought in and worked with firefighters to spray water to disperse the bees. I'm not sure if we have one of these, but the authorities there have a "Honeybee Swarm Removal Plan" that they put into action for the first time. The highway ramp where this happened was closed for twelve hours, according to the Idaho Press Tribune.