VALLEY CITY – More than 2 million bees were released when a semi carrying hundreds of bee hives overturned on Interstate 94 at Valley City Thursday, May 28.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, at 3:57 p.m., a Chevrolet Silverado, driven by a 15-year-old male from Valley City, was merging onto westbound I-94 from the westbound on-ramp at Exit 292 in Valley City. Another vehicle was merging onto I-94 ahead of the Chevrolet Silverado at the same time. A Kenworth semi, driven by a 55-year-old man from Hialeah, Florida, hauling a load of bee hives was traveling westbound on I-94 in the lane where the on-ramp merges with westbound traffic.

While merging onto I-94, the Chevrolet Silverado entered the right lane (lane two) and then abruptly attempted to move into the left lane (lane one) to pass the vehicle in front of it. During the lane change, the semi was directly alongside the Chevrolet Silverado. The driver of the Chevrolet Silverado did not observe the Kenworth semi and made an improper lane change.

To avoid a collision, the driver of the semi took evasive action and swerved left. The semi’s driver-side tires entered the median before the driver attempted to steer back onto the roadway. The semi then rolled onto its passenger side. The Chevrolet Silverado and Kenworth semi did not make contact.

The semi came to rest on its passenger side on the westbound outside shoulder and across lane two of westbound I-94. The trailer was carrying approximately 600 to 800 bee hives containing an estimated more than two million bees. The hives separated from the trailer during the rollover.

The driver of the Chevrolet Silverado remained on scene following the crash. The driver of the semi exited the vehicle under his own power but was immediately attacked by hundreds of bees after escaping the cab. He ran to the nearby Sheyenne River to remove the bees and was later transported by Barnes County Ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Fargo for treatment of hundreds of bee stings. Several local beekeepers responded to assist.

The names of those in the crash were not released.

A towing business responded to remove the semi and trailer and coordinated with another company to remove the destroyed hives using skid steers and side dump commercial vehicles. Recovery operations lasted several hours before the semi and trailer could be removed from the roadway.

Various agencies asssited at the scene including for traffic control and contact local beekeepers to respond to the incident. Valley City Public Works also opened the landfill after hours to accept the destroyed hives for disposal. A lane closure related to the crash and recovery operations remained in place for approximately eight hours.

The crash remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol