It might sound like some sort of sting operation, but it turns out it was a complete accident.
We don’t even want to know what it’s like to see anything from 16 to 20 million excitable bees swarming around you after they’ve emerged from the scene of a crash, but that was exactly what awaited the driver and two passengers in a truck that crashed on a highway in Delaware yesterday.
According to the Coast Reporter, a truck carrying 460 beehives, which bee experts estimate would have been carrying anything between 16 and 20 million honeybees, overturned a curve on a ramp from Route 896 to Interstate 95, unleashing the cargo out into the open in the process.
The driver and two passengers in the truck were able to escape but, not surprisingly, were stung approximately 50 to 100 times each and were hospitalised with minor injuries afterwards. There were reports that passers-by in the area were also stung, although not to the same extent as the poor fellas that had been in the truck in the first place.
If there are any positives emanating from the incident, it is that nobody was seriously hurt and that local police were finally able to implement the official honeybee swarm removal plan that has been in place for 14 years, with bee-handlers and firefighters working in tandem to spray water on the bees, the crates and the truck in an effort to take control of the situation.
Police have told residents in the area to wasp out and bee careful for the foreseeable future and that they’re probably best off avoiding the scene of the accident until it ceases to become a hive of activity and the buzz has died down somewhat.
