Truck carrying more than 130 million bees overturns

Bees were on their way to North Dakota

A truck carrying 40,000 pounds of bees crashed in Montana, sending millions of the insects flying and halting traffic in the process.

On Monday, emergency services were called to the scene of the wreck outside of Bozeman, Montana.

According to KBZK-TV, the call to rescue services came in after the truck attempted to manoeuvre a sharp turn at an intersection and overturned in the process.

The bees were housed in beehives and were on their way to North Dakota from California when the truck flipped over, according to the news outlet.

It is unclear how many bees were lost (NBC)

Although the two passengers were not injured in the crash, the swarms of bees and leaking fuel made the situation unique for emergency responders.

“We had to do some stabilisation to the truck since it is on its side and it was leaking fuel,” assistant fire chief Brian Nickolay told the news outlet. “We just took the best precautions we could as far as safety for our guys.”

According to Nickolay, responders dressed in “full structure fire gear” which included “self-contained breathing apparatus packs” to minimise the risk of being stung.

Local residents were also warned that bees were on the loose and to be careful.

While it is unclear exactly how many bees were in the hives, a local beekeeper estimated the truck was carrying roughly 133 million.

Bees are regularly transported cross-country to California and back, where they are rented by farmers who require the insects to pollinate crops.