It was a stinging revelation on State Route 99 in Sacramento, California, yesterday: mixing 12 million honeybees, a top-heavy tractor trailer and a tight freeway on-ramp makes a painfully sticky mess that will quickly bring traffic to a halt.

With an estimated 440 bee hives smashed on the side of the highway, and millions of stressed-out bees buzzing wildly and looking for victims, disaster was thankfully averted by a group of beekeepers who happened upon the accident (there's never a cop when you need one, but apparently beekeepers are readily available). Once their hives were re-assembled on another flatbed, the tiny insects made a bee-line for the shelter and, sweet ending in sight, began to bee-have themselves once again. Thanks to everyone who bugged us about the story!

[Source: Baltimore Sun]

12 million bees shut down California highway originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.