Thought Question: Describe a time you helped someone or something. What made you do it? Most humans would likely leap into harm's way to save a cat or dog in peril. But 20 million bees in trouble probably wouldn’t attract as many takers. A dozen local beekeepers, however, sprang into action when they learned that a hive-filled truck bound for North Dakota had overturned while making a sharp turn in Orange County, Texas. The accident unleashed 400 hives of honeybees onto the roadway. Local police told nearby residents to stay inside. But local beekeepers didn’t heed the warning. They knew trying to save the swarms of stinging insects was a race against the clock. Witnesses said the swarms were so big they looked like black clouds. So many gathered on a tree branch that it broke. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever (seen),” Captain Dylan Gray of the Orange County Emergency Services District told The Washington Post. Gray got stung 30 times. Beekeepers informed about the accident rushed to the scene from as far as 50 miles away. They brought with them forklifts, beekeeper suits, and smokers. The smokers are used to calm agitated bees. "(Beekeepers) just help each other, that's what they do," Christie Ray, a local apiarist, told CBS News. "The beekeeping community is a great community." The crew worked for six hours. They got stung repeatedly in the process. But they kept at it. They collected the fallen hives. They searched for queens because the survival of these colonies depends on them. Group members said they retrieved roughly 75% of the bees. How many survive will depend on the number that can be rejoined with their queens, they said. Chris Moore, a beekeeper, stated that he and his companions were willing to endure stings to rescue the bees. "That's part of the job," Moore told The New York Times. “It still hurts.”
