5 million bees spilled from truck near Toronto; drivers advised to keep windows closed

5 million bees are spilled on a road near Toronto, and the police advise drivers to keep their windows closed.

Following a truck spilling boxes carrying five million bees onto a road west of Toronto on Wednesday, police issued a warning to motorists to keep their car windows closed.

In Burlington, Ontario, on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, beekeepers Terri Faloney, left, and Tyler Trute remove bees from a car after a truck carrying bee hives skidded on Guelph Line road, causing the hives to tumble and release bees.(AP)

Around 6:15 in the morning, Halton Regional Police got a call reporting that bee boxes had spilled onto Guelph Line, north of Dundas Street, in Burlington, Ontario, just west of Toronto.

The incident was "quite the scene," according to Constable Ryan Anderson.

"Crates were literally on the road and swarms of bees were flying around," he claimed. "The first beekeeper who arrived on the scene was reportedly stung several times."

The incident prompted authorities to issue warnings to motorists to close their windows and to pedestrians to stay away from the area.

A few beekeepers contacted police offering assistance around an hour after police posted a warning on social media. Eventually, six or seven beekeepers showed up, according to Anderson.

According to authorities, the majority of the five million bees had been securely collected by 9:15 a.m., and the crates were being removed. Uncollected bees were allowed to find some of the crates on their own by being left behind.

An estimated 50,000–80,000 honeybees make up a colony in the summer, according to the Canadian Honey Council, a national organization of beekeepers.