Traffic on a busy street in Canada was interrupted after millions of honeybees escaped from a trailer.
Police in the east-central province of Ontario said an estimated five million pollinators were released when their hives fell onto the road in Burlington.
Halton Regional Police Service spokesman Ryan Anderson said: “We’re not sure how or what exactly took place, but at some point, the boxes containing bees or beehives slid off the trailer and spilt all over the road.”
It took officers, local apiarists and bee removal experts more than seven hours to clear the lanes and reopen them for traffic.
Some of the beekeepers who had been asked by the police for support suffered stings. However, no one was seriously injured in the accident or during the removal operation.
In gathering the escaped colonies, the apiculture experts focused on identifying the queen bees. It has not been reported whether they were successful.
One honeybee colony consists of up to 50,000 insects.
The driver of the truck will face charges for transporting an insecure load, according to the media relations officer.
There are more than 13,100 beekeepers all over Canada.
With 3,200 professional and hobbyist honey farm managers, Ontario takes second place among the country’s provinces. Only British Columbia registers a higher interest in apiculture.
