Bee Accident -- in the news

[Kris^]

Truck hauling bees crashes in Montana
Dumps honey, sending bees on rampage
Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Posted: 11:08 AM EDT (1508 GMT)

BOZEMAN, Montana (AP) -- A tractor-trailer overturned on a curve on a highway, spilling its load of hundreds of bee hives and unleashing some nine million angry honey bees.
The bees buzzed furiously as driver Lane Miller, his arm scraped to the bone, struggled to flee his rig after it overturned Monday in Bear Trap Canyon west of Bozeman. The truck slid across the highway before coming to a stop between guardrails.
"I had to kick the windshield out of the front of the cab and the bees were on me from that moment," said Miller, 41. "I've never felt so much fear in my life."
Miller walked away from the crash, and two people picked him up and took him to the hospital. Miller underwent surgery on his arm and suffered bruises and about 20 stings.
The state road was closed for 14 hours as crews and beekeepers cleaned up the 512 hives Miller was hauling from Idaho to North Dakota.
In spite of bee suits and extra clothing, beekeeper Gary Clark said he counted about 60 stings of his own.
"Everybody had literally thousands of bees on them, in their hats and on their suits," Clark said. "When we pulled the boxes out, big globs of them would fall on us."
Firefighters directing traffic also suffered stings.
"The bees were so agitated you could barely see the beekeepers or the wreckage itself, just because of the cloud of bees that were swarming," said fire chief Shawn Christiansen.
It wasn't until 3 a.m. Tuesday that a tow truck got in to haul out the tractor-trailer, leaving behind pools of honey from the overturned hives.
State Transportation Department employees dropped sand on the road to soak up the sticky mess.

[Lesli]

I was just coming to post this:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Central/06/16/highway.bees.ap/index.html

Poor bees. Getting dumped out of a truck during an accident must have been traumatic. I notice, however, that the driver got studng only 20 times, which, when you consider he was hauling 9 million bees, ain't much.

[Robo]

Poor Bees

It's not clear from the article,  but these might be lucky bees.  Usually accidents like that are declared a safety hazard and the fire company sprays them down with soap foam to reduce the hazard to nearby locals.

[Anonymous]

Well, it did say beekeepers came to clear up the bees (in the CNN article), so I guess most of the bees made it back to their happy homes. Considering the insurance payout for losing that many hives, the insurance company was probably very happy about that!

[Robo]

Considering the insurance payout for losing that many hives, the insurance company was probably very happy about that!

The cost of the hives is a drop in the bucket compared to just one personal lawsuit, especially with the outrageous awards that are given out these days.

[Beth Kirkley]

I hate how they make the bees sounds so violent. As if the truck was carrying wild hungry tigers. If the reporter could have just put some common sense stuff in there, like - "The 512 hives together held an estimated 16 million bees. The driver received 20 stings, and the people cleaning the bee hives off the road received more, which is relatively low for the amount of bees they dealt with."

I bet the beekeepers didn't get very many through the suits. If any at all. And 60 stings isn't that bad! My husband counted that many stingers on his gloves when he moved a swarm off a tree branch. (He wasn't sure how to do it, and just started scooping with his gloved hands.)

Instead they had to write the story out like it was some horror flick.  

Beth

[Anonymous]

well, admit it, it was a horror flick.  besides, people are trying to sell articles here, bad news sounds better than good.

[Beth Kirkley]

Journalists are what irritate me in this world. In the name of "freedom of the press" they can say what ever they want. It never matters if it's information that's been twisted, or stretched, or if it's an opinion. For the most part it ends up being the same thing - a lie!  
People can say what ever they want, but when did it become ok for journalists to print it? When did we stop insisting on accuracy and truth?

That's what gets me upset.
Beth