At least 10 million bees were shed from their hives when a truck carrying them from California to North Dakota overturned on Interstate 80 in Utah on Monday morning.
Cameron Roden, a media officer for the Utah Highway Patrol, told CNN that the accident occurred because the truck was going too fast around the corner.
The driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries and several bee stings.
Then a lane was closed for more than four hours to clean up the accident site, where 416 crates of honeybees were identified.
“There were at least 10 million bees in the air,” noted Julie Arthur, president of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association, who was called to the scene in an attempt to catch the huge swarm.
So a rescue mission was set up for the next day to try to get back as many bees as possible. However, Arthur described the scene as “a colossal mess,” as honey and wax melt in the sun.
“Not much equipment could have been saved, but we found a huge pile of bees at the back of the hill,” she told the outlet.
“We just started piling the bees into the crates as fast as we could. They weren’t pretty. They had just been thrown from a truck and most of them lost their queen.”
Approximately 10% of the lost bees were rescued at the end of the operation.
Ironically, Utah is known as the “Beehive State,” with images of beehives on all signage and monuments in the state.
