ATLANTA — Following a truck spilling boxes carrying five million bees onto a road west of Toronto on Wednesday, police issued a warning to motorists to keep their car windows closed.
Around 6:15 in the morning, Halton Regional Police got a call reporting that bee boxes had spilled onto Guelph Line, north of Dundas Street, in Burlington, Ontario, just west of Toronto.
The incident was “quite the scene,” according to Constable Ryan Anderson.
“Crates were literally on the road and swarms of bees were flying around,” he claimed. “The first beekeeper who arrived on the scene was reportedly stung several times.”
The incident prompted authorities to issue warnings to motorists to close their windows and two pedestrians to stay away from the area.
A few beekeepers contacted the police, offering help around an hour after the police posted a warning on social media. Eventually, six or seven beekeepers showed up, according to Anderson.
According to authorities, most of the 5 million bees had been securely collected by 9:15 a.m., and the crates were being removed. Uncollected bees could find some crates on their own by being left behind.
About 50,000–80,000 honeybees make up a colony in the summer, according to the Canadian Honey Council, a national organization of beekeepers.
