A truck was hauling over 50 million bees on a rural road in Boyne City, northern Michigan, last week. That’s about 260 miles northwest of Detroit. The truck overturned, causing a major swarm of bees to escape. The weather in that area had been extremely hot, so firefighters sprayed water on the bees that remained in the truck to keep them cool.
People living nearby were told to keep their windows and doors shut so the liberated bees wouldn’t end up in their homes.
According to Charlevoix County Sheriff Charles Vondra, it is estimated that several hundred thousand bees flew free. He referred to it as a very large swarm.
Beekeepers arrived at the scene and removed the boxes of beehives that were intact onto trucks to take them away. They positioned empty bee boxes to attract any escaped bees to come back. Although some beekeepers suffered minor stings, the general public remained unharmed as no stings were reported.
In an unrelated story that took place in New York City on September 1, 2021, NYPD beekeeper Detective Travis removed 10,000 bees from a light pole in midtown Manhattan.
This 0:47-second video by FOX 5 New York shows the buzzing action:
And here is a 0:29-second video by CBS New York of the same beekeeping officer and bee swarm removal at the corner of Avenue of the Americas at 6 Avenue:
Shifting gears, this next swarm takes us to Texas. Just days ago, Texas Beeworks made this 4:00-minute video when they were called to remove a swarm of bees from a table in somebody’s back yard. Watch Erika Thompson scooping the bees with her bare hand into a new hive box.
And last but not least for this weekend, a swarm of bees disrupted a soccer match for two hours in Bolivia. This 0:59-second video by NowThis News shows how the bees managed to clear the soccer field:
Meanwhile, down under in the southern hemisphere, honeybees have been busy pollinating almond trees in the annual Australian almond pollination migration. Hives are trucked in from all over Australia, in the same way bees around the USA are trucked to California every February.
Busy bees, busy bees, where are you going? Wherever the most sweet nectar is flowing...