'Bee-lated' Cargo Arrival in Ontario Good News for Northern New Brunswick Residents

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On June 30th, Bob Ewing (DJ) reported on a traffic accident in northern New Brunswick that released more than 12 million bees into the general vicinity—they had been in transit to their home in Ontario. There was concern at the time of the original reporting; although the majority of these 'busy bees' had been subdued and coerced into their hives, the hot and humid weather made it difficult to convince all of them to return to their homes. All that flora must have been very tempting.

Thankfully, Charlie Parker, the bees' owner / guardian in Ontario, reports that all but 100,000 of his charges made it safely home, although they were "still a little shaken up on Wednesday." Getting them to settle back into their home proved more difficult than expected:

We had to use a lot of smoke. They'd been on that truck for an extra day and they were jolted and rehandled and everything else. They were a little ugly, but they'll settle down ... Really no beekeeper really likes to move bees. It's a hard job and the bees get ugly but you do it because that's where you can make some money. You can make a living doing it that way.

On behalf of blueberry farmers, the newly pollinated plants, and northern New Brunswick, I thank you for all that you do Mr. Parker.

All jesting aside, I do have one concern about the way in which this was reported by national media. While the plight of norther farmers, industry, and 'helper bees' is important, what about the potentially deadly health concerns? The cargo was bees!

As a life-long member of the throat-closing / red-in-face / stop-breathing bee allergy population, I feel that slightly more emphasis should have been given to the very real and deadly consequences of suddenly having an army of angry bees looking for something to sting. Richard Duplain, vice-president of the New Brunswick Beekeepers Association, assured the CBC that, "[they] don't usually sting unless they are being bothered and they die after they do." Such heartening news.

I'll keep that in mind should I ever be stung again. My epitaph will proudly say, "He may have died from a bee-sting, but he took the nasty with him."

The moral? Get and always carry an Epi-Pen with you from late spring until the first hard frost. The bees won't notice, but you'll be thankful that you did.