About 2 million honeybees perished in Sunday’s semitruck wreck on Interstate 90 in Coeur d’Alene, the Idaho State Police said. The truck, from Belleville Honey and Beekeeping Supply in Burlington, Washington, was hauling about 400 hives to Montana when the rear trailer swayed and overturned in the eastbound lanes near East Sherman Avenue interchange, ISP Sgt. Jonelle Greear said. The hives spilled onto the freeway, releasing swarms of agitated bees in 105-degree heat. State police and Spokane Fire Department responders were stung repeatedly, and firefighters sprayed water on the bees to try to calm the swarm, Greear said. Firefighters then sprayed the hives with foam to kill the remaining bees so the mess could be loaded for disposal, she said. “There’s some in the wind out there,” Greear said. “They’re still flying around today.” The wreck happed at 1:46 p.m. and blocked one eastbound lane until 9 p.m. The driver was not cited. Belleville lost an estimated 10 million bees in April when a semitruck overturned on Interstate 5 north of Seattle/Scott Maben, SR.

DFO: As a gardener, I ♥ bees. This is sad.