All the buzz: 250 million honeybees escape truck near Canada border
The truck hauling an estimated 31,800kg of honeybee hives rolled over near Lynden, US police say
There was a buzz in the air on Friday in northwestern Washington state as about 250 million honeybees escaped a commercial truck that overturned.
The truck hauling an estimated 31,800kg (70,000lbs) of honeybee hives rolled over around 4am close to the Canadian border near Lynden, the Whatcom county Sheriff’s Office said in social media posts.
Deputies, county public works employees and several bee experts responded to the scene.
The box hives later came off the truck, and local beekeepers swarmed to help recover, restore and reset the hives, according to the sheriff’s office.
The plan is to allow the bees to return to their hives and find their queen bee in the next day or two, saving as many of the bees as possible, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Thank you to the wonderful community of beekeepers: over two dozen showed up to help ensure the rescue of millions of pollinating honey bees would be as successful as possible,” the sheriff’s office post said.
The public was advised to avoid the area on Friday, and sheriff’s deputies had to dive into in their squad cars at times to avoid being stung.