Millions of honeybees loose after truck overturns near B.C.-Wash. border

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 31, 2025 6:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 31

There was a buzz successful the aerial Friday successful northwestern Washington authorities arsenic astir 14 cardinal honeybees escaped a commercialized motortruck that overturned.

The motortruck hauling an estimated 70,000 pounds (31,751 kilograms) of honeybee hives rolled implicit astir 4 a.m. PT close to the Canadian borderline adjacent Lynden, Wash., conscionable southbound of Abbotsford, B.C., the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office said successful societal media posts.

It appears the operator did not navigate a choky crook good enough, causing the trailer to rotation into a ditch, region exigency absorption spokesperson Amy Cloud said successful an email. The operator was uninjured, Cloud said.

Deputies, region nationalist works employees and respective bee experts responded to the scene. The container hives aboriginal came disconnected the truck, and section beekeepers swarmed to assistance recover, reconstruct and reset the hives, according to the sheriff's office.

WATCH | Millions of honeybees released aft rollover: 

The program is to let the bees to instrumentality to their hives and find their queen bee successful the adjacent time oregon two, according to the sheriff's office. The extremity is to prevention arsenic galore of the bees as possible.

"Thank you to the fantastic assemblage of beekeepers: implicit 2 twelve showed up to assistance guarantee the rescue of millions of pollinating honey bees would beryllium arsenic palmy arsenic possible," the sheriff's bureau station said.

The nationalist was advised to debar the country connected Friday, and sheriff's deputies dove into successful their squad cars astatine times to debar being stung.

Honeybees are important to the nutrient supply, pollinating implicit 100 crops including nuts, vegetables, berries, citrus and melons. 

Bees and different pollinators person been declining for years, and experts blasted insecticides, parasites, disease, clime alteration and deficiency of a divers nutrient supply.

In 2015, 14 million bees escaped a motortruck northbound of Seattle connected Interstate 5 and started stinging people.