A nightmare unfolded near Yellowstone National Park after a semi-truck carrying an estimated 250 million bees overturned on a busy highway.
Images from the crash along US Highway 191 on Tuesday showed the truck lying on its side as thousands of damaged beehives spilled across the roadway.
The accident quickly turned hazardous as swarms of agitated bees descended on the area. A Gallatin County sheriff’s deputy directing traffic around the scene suffered nine bee stings while directing traffic around the crash.
Dalton Broadus of West Yellowstone, Montana, told the Cowboy State Daily that bees began attacking his vehicle when he stopped near the crash site.
Emergency vehicles, two tow trucks and a beekeeper wearing a protective suit soon arrived to assess the damage and begin recovering the hives.
After watching footage from the scene, Cheyenne venture capitalist and beekeeper Michael Jordan described the crash as ‘a devastating loss.’
‘From the way it looks, I’d think about 40 to 50 percent of what’s there is salvageable, maybe,’ he told the Cowboy State Daily.
‘It’s a big dump across a long section, so I’d say they’ve got a three-day ordeal ahead of them.’
Emergency vehicles, two tow trucks and a beekeeper wearing a protective suit soon arrived to assess the damage and begin recovering the hives
‘Although the highway remains open, expect delays and traffic control measures as cleanup and mitigation work continue at the site of the accident,’ a statement from the park says.
According to Jordan, a single honey box can contain between 75,000 and 125,000 bees.
Each box costs about $500 and can generate roughly $2,000 in honey-production revenue.
‘There could be up to 1,000 of those boxes in one load,’ Jordan told the Cowboy State Daily.
Jordan knows firsthand how difficult recovery efforts can be. He previously helped coordinate a salvage operation after a semi-truck carrying beehives crashed on Interstate 80 near Arlington.
According to Jordan, the first few hours after an accident are crucial.
‘The first four hours are critical,’ he said. ‘The truck drivers, the insurance company, and the owners of the colonies have to work together and approve everything.
‘Somebody on-site is going to be the manager, and they’ll figure out how to fix the problem, so there’s a lot of communication that needs to happen.’
In Yellowstone, the cleanup effort could be even more complicated because the accident occurred within a national park.
Images from the crash along US Highway 191 on Tuesday showed the truck lying on its side as thousands of damaged beehives spilled across the roadway
Jordan said the trucking company, insurers and hive owners will likely need to coordinate closely with the National Park Service, which could impose additional requirements or penalties tied to the crash.
‘When your boat sinks in Glendale Lake, they charge you for littering, not to mention salvage,’ Jordan said.
‘It’s going to be a pretty big loss, and that’s just the property damage.
‘The owners will need approval from the insurance companies, and then there’s whatever liability the trucking company will have with the NPS. If the mitigation takes too long, they could lose everything.’
