More Than 10 Million Bees Released When Semi-Truck Crashes on Utah Highway
02 Jul 202216:29 PM
More Than 10 Million Bees Released When Semi-Truck Crashes on Utah Highway
CNN
CNN published this article:

At least 10 million bees were released onto a highway after a semi-truck crashed in Utah.

The truck, driven by a commercial beekeeper traveling from California to North Dakota, tipped over on Interstate 80 at around 10:40 a.m. local time Monday, Cameron Roden, public information officer for the Utah Highway Patrol, told CNN. 

The crash occurred because the driver was driving too fast on a curve, Roden added.

Eastbound I-80's right lane was closed for about four hours to clean up the crash site and the driver was taken to the hospital due to numerous bee stings and minor injuries from the crash, Roden reported. Several troopers on the scene also received bee stings.

Julie Arthur, president of the Wasatch Beekeepers' Association, told CNN the truck was transporting 416 boxes, each of which carried between 50,000-100,000 honeybees used to pollinate crops across the country.

"At least 10 million bees were in the air," Arthur noted. She put out a call to her team to help capture the huge swarm, but the beekeeper told authorities on site it was not worthwhile to attempt to save the bees.

It wasn't until Tuesday morning Arthur received a call saying she and her team could stage a rescue mission.

The scene was "a gigantic mess," Arthur recounted, with honey and honeycomb wax melting in the sun and boxes scattered everywhere, covered in the fire foam fighters had used to spray down some of the bees.