'Everybody's been stung': 14 million bees join rush hour after truck spill in Washington
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 1:02am
UPDATED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 1:02am
Tribune News Service in Seattle
Beekeepers sift through the wreck trying to salvage hives.Photos: AP
An articulated truck tips over in the middle of rush hour traffic - usually scenes like this don't create much of a buzz.
In fact Washington transport department records show there were 19 mostly minor crashes on the same stretch of highway in Lynnwood last year. But most wrecks don't leave some 14 million bees on the highway.
Five-eyed insects buzzed overhead as TV reporters swatted at them, microphones in hand. "Everybody's been stung," said Sergeant Ben Lewis of the Washington State Patrol.
When the sun rose, firefighters had little choice but to douse the insects and bee boxes with water and foam - killing the bees, or at least slowing them down.
"They're little flying solar panels. As soon as light hits them, they want to be active," said Mark Emrich of the Washington State Beekeepers Association.
The scene was cleared by 12.47pm, and the driver, 36, was unhurt. Most of the bees were killed or hauled to a dump nearby. But the media couldn't ignore the swarm of tweets, stories and video from just north of Seattle.
To the dismay of Eric Thompson, 43, owner of Belleville Farms of Burlington, Skagit County - the multimillion-dollar beekeeping company that owns the hives and truck - all the attention was suddenly on the bees. Mostly, the insects are responsible for pollinating crops that make up a sizable chunk of food supply in the US.
"In my 20 years of commercial beekeeping, it's been my worst fear - losing a load on a national highway," Thompson said. "Is it devastating to my business? No. Is it devastating to my ego? Yes. Being a spectacle to every media outlet and being splattered on the side of the highway. It sucks."
