APRIL 17, 2015
LYNNWOOD, WASHINGTON
A semi-truck carrying a load a honey bees overturned on
northbound Interstate 5 Friday, scattering boxes containing nearly 14 million
live bees across the highway. Most of
the bees were exterminated by spraying them with foam. What a sad day for the environment, as if
sudden colony collapse is not enough, we now have to see them die like
that. Truly unbearable to watch.
Quick Facts:
Semi crashed on NB I-5 at I-405 in Lynnwood area Friday
Truckload contains millions of bees
Numerous boxes, each containing about 5,000 bees, crushed
Beekeepers using smoke to calm bees and get them
reloaded
Fire department used foam to kill bees as they became
agitated
The HOV and left lane remain blocked at milepost 182 in the
Lynnwood area near Alderwood Mall Friday afternoon after the 3:30 a.m. crash.
The Washington State Patrol said the semi was getting onto
northbound I-5 from northbound Interstate 405 when it tipped over. The
driver told troopers a blown tire caused the crash.But according to WSP,
speed, fatigue and being overloaded are also possible factors. The driver was
not hurt.
KIRO 7 News video showed dozens of boxes of live bees scattered
across the road. Beekeepers from the company who owns the bees, Belleville
Bees in Burlingon, responded and used smoke to calm the bees and them get
them back into boxes and loaded onto trucks.
Numerous boxes of bees were crushed in the crash. Each box
contained about 5,000 bees. The Washington State Patrol said the load contained
a total of about 13.7 million bees.
Crews raced to get as many bees as possible contained by
daybreak, when temperatures warm and the bees become more active and
agitated. At first, the bees were largely staying in their boxes because
they were producing honey and protecting the queen, but members of the KIRO 7
News crew were later stung numerous times. See reporter Jeff Dubois'
battle of the bees here.
Many boxes of bees remained on the road after sunrise, and
the agitated bees began to swarm. At 6 a.m., at the request of Belleville
Bees, the fire department began putting a thick layer of fire suppression foam
on the boxes of bees, killing them. The company came up with the idea because
it was the quickest option to handle the difficult situation.
The spill was a huge loss for Belleville Bees, which trucks
the bees around to pollinate crops.
"They were coming off the apple orchards after
pollinating up there," said beekeeper Christian Englund.
Construction equipment was brought in to scoop up the
remaining boxes of dead bees. It's a loss of as much as $90,000.
"It's a setback for the farmers, too," said
Englund. "They've got to get these bees on their crops so that pollination
happens."
Belleville says people in the immediate area near Alderwood
Mall,may notice a high number of bees for the next few days.
Source: www.kirotv.com