# Utah Bee truck spill



## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

Sure sounds like a mess. Anyone here know who's bees they were?

Our trucks start leaving this coming weekend. We always keep our fingers crossed this doesn't happen. 

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52768895-78/crash-bees-truck-traffic.html.csp

Sheri


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

I don't like hearing about this stuff before our bees are safe for sure. That would make for a really bad day.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

" He did not know whether the queen bees in the crash had stayed in their hives." 

Isn't Russell breeding that quality into his stock?


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

SALT LAKE CITY - Truck driver Louis Holst has never been scared of bees, but he's rethinking his next long-haul load a day after being swarmed by 25 million of the stinging insects.

Holst and his wife, Tammie, picked up 460 bee hives in South Dakota and were about 36 hours into their drive Sunday night when he hit a sharp bend in a construction zone on Interstate 15 in southern Utah. The twist in the road toppled his trailer and sent the bees into a frenzy.

Says it was the last load out of SD...anyone know the outfit?

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/artic...k-millions-of-bees-crashes.html#ixzz1bl0by3ra


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## BeeBrothersApiary (Oct 14, 2007)

Richard Adees Farm

_The 25 million bees were headed from Adee Honey Farms in Bruce, S.D., to near Bakersfield, Calif., where they stay for the winter before being used for pollination come spring, company co-owner Richard Adee said._


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## busy bee apiary (Aug 7, 2010)

Adee out of sd. Sure hate to see anyone lose a load of bees.


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## mnbeekeeper (Jun 30, 2010)

boy it might be a unlucky year for moving bees!!!! (really hope not) we got a call yesterday from a hobby guy saying there was a truck load of bees that tipped or crashed in southern MN. anyone heard anything about that. also just wondering any one know if they are picking those hives up or torching the load. i heard of a load of just equipt. that tipped over last spring in oklahoma and i heard they torched that. geez i would we willing to drive out there or where ever and pick up what was good still. i understand its a mess just burn it but man that is a serous loss to take. sad sad sad. 


sent one load on the ground safe in cali. 4 more to go fingers crossed.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Aweful thing to have happen for sure.
But last I heard Adee Farms has 70000 hives.
460 hives represents a .6% loss.
About the same as me tossing out an old frame.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

70000 hives wow, all pollination hives?


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Ian said:


> all pollination hives?


All depends on whatcha call pollenating.


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

NO, 2/3s of Richards bees winter on the slopes of the Tehachipia (spelling) mountains just south of Bakersfield on some of the big ranches around there. I know this because I have had bees pollinating right across the ditch from his bees. My bees would be on apricots and his bees were ten feet away on blueberrys. Richard does alot of blueberry pollination in the southern San Jauquin valley. The other third are sent to the breeding unit in south Mississippi where losses are made up and increase is made. It must be nice to have different divisions in an outfit. A lot can be learned from the largest beekeeper in North America in the form of management and business. TED


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

What you call pollinating??? Hopefully something stronger than three frames and an entrance reducer that reduces the entrances down to a half an inch. The poor grower rides by and sees gobs of bees stacked up in the air because the poor bees can not get in the small entrance. And he is saying to himself-"I got good bees this year from Mr.-------"--when pigs fly...... I saw this stunt many times over the years I was pollinating there done by beekeepers that knew better.. Ted


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## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

I worked for Richard for several years until i went on my own. My team picked up one of his wrecked loads about 20 years ago by Grand Island Nebr. Indeed it is a mess. We had three two tons, three swingers and 8 guys took us all night until 9 am the next morning.


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## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

Ted. I indeed learned alot working for him. I worked his queen yard and grafted for him in Miss. Bret Adee usually runs the California end.


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## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

I have a buddy in St George who helped clean up this mess until 3:00Am. He said they were able to save most of the hives and they are now sitting in local fields waiting to be reloaded and transported to Cali.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Ya I kinda assumed most of them would be directed towards pollination. Does Adee set any out in the northern states to catch some honey flow? 
I wonder how you would compare pollination operation size to honey operation size 
I was just thinking of 70000 honey production hives. That would be tremendous, not that pollination isnt because it is, I was just thinking with honey production you need more equipment (Supers and extractors) more men ( to collect and extract the honey within weeks time) and 1700 honey collection yards (2 mile radius from other beekeepers un like pollination)

Just some thoughts


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Years ago, back when Adee's "only" had 50000 hives, Richard Adee did a presentation here in Oregon on his outfit.
There was one slide that really stuck with me:
They were moving bees across the plains to somewhere and stopped to take a picture.
The picture was of them standing alongside a semi load of bees and the road behind which was semi after semi after semi as far as the eye can see right down to a pinpoint.
A real jaw-dropper.
I don't know how many semis were in the picture, but for fun; lets do some math:
50000 hives divided by 408 per semi = 122.5 semi loads!!!


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## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

Ian, they do put most of the bees down for Honey as well. Most in Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Norht Dakota. I believe now there may be some in Idaho as well..Can't remember if he bought an outfit there or not. They are pretty well all across South Dakota as well. I also Ran one of there 13,000 colony operations when I was not in Miss. We had an extracting plant (small) in the north part of ones state and a huge one in the western part of a state. The large plant was capable of putting out 80 barrels in a 24 hour period. We ran three shifts. 
The two boys Bret and Kelvin are slowly taking over the operations responsiblities. Richard is truly a master and I couldn't have had anyone any better to learn about bees, queens, logistics, operations, and business in general.


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

You learned from the best. James, if I recall was not one of Richard's brothers running the Mississippi unit years ago? I have known Mr. Adee for many years and he was always free with advice to help you better your beekeeping. My mother was married to Dr. Shimanukii many years ago. So I got to meet alot of the "greats" like him in the beekeeping industry in years past. The item that sticks out the most in my memory is standing on a hillside in Southern California and looking across this one particular ranch and seeing holding yards of Mr. Adee's every so many miles apart as far as you could see. Each holding yard had around 800 colonies. That was a sight to behold. TED


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