Washington is in chaos after an estimated 250 million honeybees escaped after a truck overturned.
The vehicle, carrying about 70,000 pounds of honeybee hives, overturned near the Canadian border in the Linden area, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office said via social media.
The driver apparently lost control on a sharp turn, causing the trailer to go into a ditch, said Amy Cloud, a spokeswoman for the Department of Emergency Management. Fortunately, the driver was not injured.
The sheriff's office said emergency services and several beekeeping experts responded to the scene, and local beekeepers assisted in the recovery, restoration and reinstallation of the hives.
The sheriff said the plan is to allow the bees to return to their hives and find their queen within the next day or two. The main goal is to save as many bees as possible.
“We are grateful to the amazing beekeeping community, with more than two dozen people stepping up to help ensure the operation was as successful as possible to save millions of honeybees that pollinate,” the sheriff's office said.
Residents were advised to avoid the area on Friday, and deputies sometimes exercised caution to avoid being bitten while in patrol cars.
Honey bees play a critical role in food security, pollinating over 100 crops, including nuts, vegetables, berries, citrus and melons.
Populations of bees and other pollinators have been declining for years, and experts attribute the decline to insecticide use, parasites, disease, climate change and a lack of diverse food sources.
In 2018, the UN General Assembly established the first World Bee Day, celebrated on 20 May, to draw attention to the plight of bees.
Beekeepers often move millions of bees from one location to another because staying in one place for too long can deplete the resource base for other pollinators, the Seattle Times reports.
Alan Woods, president of the Washington State Beekeepers Association, told the newspaper the state needs to implement standardized “bee emergency response” for incidents involving vehicles carrying bees.
In 2015, 14 million bees escaped from a truck north of Seattle on Interstate 5 and began stinging people, according to media reports at the time.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
