Local beekeeper analyzes the great bee-scape after 14 million bees got loose in Lynden

A truck carrying hives of bees overturned near the Canadian border late last week, unleashing approximately 14 million honeybees onto the road and surrounding areas.

“If you’re a local beekeeper, or an apiarist, or whatever you are, and somebody calls you and says, ‘Hey, we’ve got a huge spill,’ that’s your shining moment,” Jake Skorheim, co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, said. “You’ve got to show up to something like that. You’ve got to go help the local authorities, because cops are not made to hunt for bees.”

Local beekeeper weighs in on the accident bee-yond control

Quentin Geant, the regional operations manager for Alvéole, a beekeeping company in Seattle, joined “Jake and Spike” to break down the un-bee-lievably bad situation.

“What’s the protocol for recapturing these bees?” Spike O’Neill, co-host of “Jake and Spike,” asked Geant.

“You don’t really capture them. You provide them a place,” Geant answered. “Hopefully, they’re going to come back. They are extremely resilient. What is the best protocol? You want to suit up because those bees are going to be a little grumpy.”

Geant explained that when the truck toppled over, so did the hives it was transporting, leaving the bees buzzing around confused. His recommendation was to suit up, get the hives back to their normal stature, and wait for the bees to return while also providing new, empty hives for them to flock to.

“Imagine a crowd of thousands of people, and you and your loved ones are in the middle, and you got lost,” Geant said. “At this point, they’re looking for shelter. They’re looking to go into a hive and fill shelter and be safe. It’s going to take a few days for them to settle down, to calm down. Then, the beekeepers are going to go back inside the hive and try to look for the queen and make sure that everything is fine.”

Geant believed the bees were being transported to help pollinate local produce like pears and apples. Bees provide pollination for farmers, which is essential to both the economy and survival.

Combing over the wreckage in an accident that was an absolute buzzkill, Geant couldn’t fathom the financial loss.

“This will be the end of me. This would be like, ‘That’s it. I cannot do my job anymore. I lost most of my bees,'” Geant said. “It is very difficult for that beekeeper. Time will tell. Hopefully, maybe 80% will be fine, 70% will be fine. I very much doubt that 100% would be fine, but only time will tell.”

“Quentin, you get stung on a regular basis doing what you do, right?” Jake asked.

“I get stung every day,” Geant answered. “Every day. But bees, I gotta say, most of the time when I get stung, it’s my mistake. If you want to be immune to the venom and not react anymore, it takes 2,000-3,000 stings.”

The benefits of bee venom are far-reaching. It’s commonly used in products including extracts, supplements, moisturizers, and serums, while injections have been beneficial for inflammation, pain, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, and even cancer. Geant claimed bee venom is one of the only things that relieves pain caused by Lyme disease.

“My hip’s been killing me, bring me some bees,” Spike said.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.