LYNDEN, Wash. — Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office issued the following statement today, Friday, May 30, 2025.
ALERT: Weidkamp Road is closed from West Badger to Loomis Trail Road due to the roll-over of a commercial vehicle full of bees.
AVOID THE AREA due to the potential of bee escape and swarming
WCSO deputies, Whatcom County Public Works, and a bee expert are on-scene with the truck-load of pollinating bees.
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Click for more informationWe will advise when the situation has cleared and Weidkamp is re-opened.
– Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (May 30, 2025)
First responders were dispatched to a report of a rollover vehicle incident in the 8700 block of Weidkamp Road about 3:30am today. No injuries were reported.
County officials later reported that 250 million bees were “loose” as a result of the incident.
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UPDATE 11:50am: Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office issued the following updated statement.
A commercial truck hauling an estimated 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives (containing live bees) overturned on Weidkamp Road near Lynden around 4 a.m. today. Weidkamp is closed between Loomis Trail Road and West Badger and the public is advised to avoid the area and stay away at least 200 yards.
Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) deputies, Whatcom County Public Works, and several bee experts responded. According to WCSO Patrol, Weidkamp will be closed between 24 and 48 hours.
Shortly after 9 a.m. the hives came off the truck, which freed the bees. Master beekeepers are on scene, and others are on the way, to assist in re-setting the box hives. The plan is to allow the bees to re-hive and find their queen bee. That should occur within the next 24-48 hours. The goal is to save as many of the bees as possible.
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Click for more informationAs of 10:30 a.m., deputies turned the scene over to WCSO Division of Emergency Management (DEM). DEM is assisted on-scene by several Master Beekeepers.
– Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (May 30, 2025)
UPDATE May 31, 2025, 2pm: Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office issued the following updated statement.
Bee recovery complete, Weidkamp Road has reopened.
– Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (May 31, 2025)
The Sheriff’s Office also issued a correction to the number of bees impacted as being closer to 14 million, not 250 million as originally reported. This number is according to one of the beekeepers doing recovery work on-site.
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