Millions of honeybees escaped into a rural Texas neighborhood after a semitrailer carrying about 400 hives tipped over, forcing emergency crews to shut down roads and tell residents to stay inside.
Orange County officials said the truck overturned Sunday morning in the area east of Houston and near the Louisiana border. “Please remain indoors,” Orange County Emergency Services wrote on social media, adding that there was a heavy presence of bees in the area.
No bee stings or serious injuries were immediately reported, and officials had not identified the owner of the hives. Crews worked to unload the trailer and salvage as many colonies as possible while local beekeepers rushed to help.
Local Beekeepers Raced to Help
Christie Ray, who owns nearby Queen Bee Supply, said volunteers from three or four other beekeeping businesses went to the crash scene to assist. “They just help each other, that’s what they do,” Ray said. “The beekeeping community is a great community.”
The company shared video and multiple images from the scene showing beekeepers working together to recover the hives. A photojournalist from CBS affiliate KDFM also captured video despite being stung, the station reported.
Why The Loss Could Be Costly
Chris Moore, owner of Moore Honey, joined the effort with his son and several employees and estimated that only about a quarter of the 408 hives will survive. He said the final damage depends heavily on how many queens remain alive after the crash.
Moore said a loss like this hits beekeeping operations twice, because they lose both the hives and the revenue those colonies would have produced. “It’s a big loss,” Moore said. “Any time you lose that many in one shot, it’s a big loss.”
How The Bees Ended Up There
Large beekeeping operations often move hives across the country for commercial pollination and to follow blooming seasons for honey production. The hives on the truck had only traveled a few miles on a trip to North Dakota when the driver took a wrong turn into a neighborhood with narrow roads.
Moore said the driver was trying to navigate a tight corner when the trailer fell over. Other local keepers set out catch boxes to collect strays, but Moore said it will likely take a while for the insects to clear out of the area.
Orange County Emergency Services said it appreciated the public’s patience as crews worked to safely resolve the incident. The bee spill follows other recent crashes involving trucks carrying hives, including one in April near Knoxville, Tennessee, and another last year in northern Washington state that allowed about 14 million bees to escape.