--- title: Bees Loose After Truck Overturns on Washington State Highway description: "Lots of stinging going on," according to the Washington State Department of Transportation canonical: https://time.com/3826816/bees-spill-highway/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-17T17:57:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:18:53.425Z og:title: Overturned Trucks Spills Millions of Bees on the Highway og:description: The accident occurred on Washington's Interstate 5 og:url: https://time.com/3826816/bees-spill-highway/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt991d5f45ff030857/6987ebb606f2c1efc2337cb5/beekepers-truck-incident.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Beekeepers attend to a semi-trailer truck that overturned with a cargo of bees on a highway in Lynnwood og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Overturned Trucks Spills Millions of Bees on the Highway twitter:description: The accident occurred on Washington's Interstate 5 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt991d5f45ff030857/6987ebb606f2c1efc2337cb5/beekepers-truck-incident.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Overturned Truck Spills Millions of Bees on the Highway by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 17, 2015 5:57 PM UTC  Beekeepers wait to start clearing out the scene of semi-trailer truck that overturned with a cargo of bees on a highway in Lynnwood, Wash., on Apr. 17, 2015. Beekeepers wait to start clearing out the scene of semi-trailer truck that overturned with a cargo of bees on a highway in Lynnwood, Wash., on Apr. 17, 2015.Ian Terry—Reuters by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 17, 2015 5:57 PM UTC A semi-truck loaded with honeybees overturned on a Washington state highway Friday morning, spilling boxes containing millions of the insects near the town of Lynnwood. Beekeepers and firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after the 3:30 a.m. crash, the Seattle _Times_ [reports](http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/rolled-semi-spills-load-of-bees-at-the-i-5-and-i-405-interchange/). The truck was carrying 458 hives, holding an estimated 14 million bees. The entire load was worth around $92,000\. Beekeepers managed to recover some of the hives, but as the insects became agitated, firefighters killed them by spraying a mixture of foam and water on the hives. With many bees still on the loose, the Washington State Department of Transportation advised drivers to keep windows and vents closed. 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