As in most accidents, it depends on where it happens and what is
involved. One major bee spill in Maine happened on a rural road and the
recovery took some time with quite a bit of recovered boxes and bees. A
second occurred on an interstate on-ramp and the bees were hosed down
with foam. In both cases knowledgeable Beekeepers were present after the
accident and in each case their advice was taken.

The Interstate on ramp could not have been kept closed for the time that
the rural road was. Plus there were emergency vehicles on the Interstate
with the resulting traffic tie up. Add the resulting publicity and it
might have caused more harm to transporting bees on the Interstate than
the loss of one truckload of bees. Legislators love to protect the
public from all harm, even perceived but not real.

In the case of both, Beekeepers fared well and their actions were
praised by the press for acting responsibly, including TV coverage for
the Interstate spill. Public welfare came first.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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