Truck Tips, Freeing 25 Million Bees

Bees went berserk and swarmed trucker and his wife

A truck carrying 25 million bees tipped over in Utah, freeing the stinging insects and sending the driver to the hospital.

Louis Holst and his wife, Tammie, were transporting 460 hives from South Dakota to Bakersfield, Calif., when he hit a sharp curve in a construction zone on I-15 and the truck tipped, according to The Associated Press. The bees went berserk.

"First responders came and drug me and my wife through the front window," Holst said. "Then we panicked."

Holst said he ripped off his shirt and began swatting the air as the bees swarmed him and his wife, who took off running. "We just started swinging our clothes," he said. "They stung her all up and down her neck."

The road was closed for several hours while beekeepers came to try to catch as many of the bees as possible. Holst, 48, was stung at least a dozen times, and his wife was also stung several times.

The bees were among 4 billion sent in 160 truckloads from Adee Honey Farms in Bruce, S.D., to Bakersfield, where they stay for the winter before being used for spring pollination, company co-owner Richard Adee said.

"It's pretty much a complete loss," Adee told the AP of the $116,000 load.

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